Whole30 - Days 30 and Beyond - Crossing the Finish Line

And the finish line!!! For me this was a literal and figurative finish line. I planned my Whole30 to end the night before my first half marathoner. Obviously, I didn't want to risk a stomach ache before my race so this carried through until I literally crossed the finish line. For me, it was really helpful to have an event as my ending date. It gave me a very real idea of how close I was to the finish.

But... let's see how we got there.

Day 30

Day 30 got off to an early start... like very early... like before 4 am early. For those who don't know, the half marathon was organized by Lululemon. One of the highlights of the event, is an exclusive store for the race. Limited edition race gear is released and for Lulu fanatics, this is a main reason to go. I'm not a crazy Lululemon fan (but that's changing day by day) but I've been getting into better shape and wanted to celebrate my half by picking up a few souveniers. I would have gone to the store a little later but my friends are crazy Lulu fanatics so we woke up early enough to make a rooster cry and headed out to wait in line. 

In the end though, it was fun to wait in line and shop with my friends. I picked up some fun things as well! I'll get into all of that in another post though. 

After all of that shopping though, I was hangry. My friend and I walked around forever before we found anything that I could work with. Finally, I found a place with eggs benedict. They had a few options for them - classic and one with tomatoes. While there was gluten free bread, I knew it probably wasn't compliant so I asked if I could use tomatoes instead of toast. The guy has absolultely no issues with my substitutions. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it came with a side of veggies as well. 

Note: I'm sure the hollandaise wasn't 100% compliant but it's not too far off and at this point, I think it's more reasonable to make a tiny exception rather than have trouble finding anything substantial to eat. 

For dinner, my friend coordinating the trip did an AMAZING job finding a place that would work with everyone's different eating restrictions (we also had a vegan and a carb lover). I was happy to have a few options that would give me the meat and carbs I needed pre-race and in the end, the menu had even more available than what was posted online. I ended up having this super balanced steak, potato, and asparagus meal.

But most of all... I FINISHED!!!! Finishing any big goal is awesome - as awesome as a ninja cat with a golden gun riding a fire breathing unicorn into a rainbow. It's funny, I actually almost missed the significance of finishing Whole30 since I was on a trip and getting mentally prepared for my race. I had a little moment of personal celebration though and then it was time for sleep.

Day 31

Since I was going into a half, I wanted to be careful about sticking with my normal Whole30 pre-race rituals so I didn't feel sick on the course. This is a pretty careful line since race day is always a little more anxious than a normal run and lots of things can contribute to throwing you off.

For pre-race, I'd been having fruit squeezes (Basically and organic apple sauce with other fruits mixed in. My favorite is apple, mango, & kale.) and some turkey. I was a little anxious so I didn't have a lot of my pre-race food but on such a long run, it was good to get something in.

And then I ran a half marathon! I ended up having cramps at some points and had to walk. I think that will all the craziness with traveling, I just didn't hydrate enough the day before. I made sure to stop at every water stop after that though and it helped a ton. As much as I would have wanted to run the whole thing, it was best to listen to my body. It's not going to be my last half and it gives me more to strive for.

And then there was post-race brunch! The race actually provided food which was awesome. Obviously this was not Whole30 and honestly, that was ok. I ran a half marathon, I burned 1300 calories, and my body needed sustenance. It was nice to have something to put into it right away and I started feeling better after getting some food and warmth back into my body.

And then it was treat time!! I obviously didn't want to fall off the wagon the first day off of Whole30 but I was on vacation and wanted at least one special Canadian treat... POUTINE!!! It was amazing and definitely a great reward for everything I'd done that day.

Of course, I didn't quite stop there... There was also the exclusive Lululemon beer that I had to try after the run. It was really good too!

...and then of course wine. Don't worry - I actually had a Whole30 dinner (kale slaw and deli meats) but I had a few drinks to celebrate as well. I thought I did great though - I was able to try the drinks I was curious about but didn't get drunk or overdo it. If the big takeaway here is just learning to enjoy alcohol responsibly and for the taste and enjoyment rather than getting wasted, then that's huge and this whole thing is a win.

And Beyond!

But after Day 31, there are many more days. I let myself have a few treats on Day 31, mostly because of the race, but I didn't want to let myself think that it was now ok to just binge. I really want to stick with an 80% Whole30 lifestyle and that picks up again immediately.

So I wanted Day 32 to be on track again and start experimenting with life after Whole30. The first stop was breakfast. I was able to get some potatoes, bacon, and eggs with no problem. I just asked them to hold the toast and it was so easy. 

It actually feels really nice to not feel restricted by a challenge but want to keep going with it and eating healthy. When I was reading through the menu, many of the exceptions just didn't even sound great. I'd rather keep doing what I'm doing and feel awesome than get back into the bad habits that had me feeling down in the first place.

For dinner, aside from the wine, I still stuck to something Whole30 - a salad with crab, shrimp, avocado, and tomatoes. It didn't need cheese or anything else that wasn't compliant. I even nursed my glass of wine. I was mostly just thirsty and wanted to down a lot of water. After one small glass, I stopped up the bottle to save the rest for another night.

Actually, the next night was a little rough for me. We had a crazy day at work and my whole team had to be on all night. Dan's family was in town so I was trying to barbecue dinner while working. After work was finally done, I decided to just finish the bottle of wine - a bad, old habit.

I'm sure you could guess what happened... I felt terrible. I didn't like the foggy feeling in my head or not being fully in control of myself. It was a bad slip but also an important one. It was good for me to realize that I don't need more than a glass of wine a lot and that drinking more doesn't make me feel better. It's ok to enjoy wine, but there's really no pointing in continuing to drink it once you've passed the point of enjoyment.

Summary

I also took my before and after pictures. It's so easy to see that I definitely had a lot of bloat before. My tummy is flatter now, and my facial features are more prominent. I'm generally in a better mood with more energy (although a lot of recent stress has been working against that). My legs (where I carry my weight more) lost A LOT of size. The shorts in both aren't the exact same but they are the same size/cut/brand and you can see how much looser they are around my thighs. For weight, I went from 136 to 131 so not huge but something. I chalked it up to muscle gain from all my working out.

But there was still something curious about that... my change seemed more drastic than 5 pounds and running usually is a weight loser not a weight gainer like lifting is. I hadn't been doing as much strength training because I was a little over expended with work, running, and family issues.

And then I saw something interesting... many of the women who ran the half marathon were saying they were up 5 pounds the day(s) after the race and wanted to know if anyone else had experienced that. So, a few days later, I decided to weigh again.. this time the scale said 127. The next day... 126. All in all, I came out about 9 pounds down which is way more in line with the results I was seeing. 

I also took another picture:

I guess after the shock to your body of running a half marathon, you retain water and nutrients for a few days. Seeing my total transformation though is such a great motivator to keep this going. Dan and I weren't hungry and we weren't bored. We loved the food we were eating and were both really happy with the developments we saw in 30 days. Now, we aren't planning on being as strict - a little cheese or treat every now and then isn't terrible, but I want to do at least enough to maintain where I am. I don't feel like I need to lose anymore weight but I want to keep feeding my body well and letting it decide where it feels more healthy. 

I'm going to do one more wrap up post with my all encompassing feelings about Whole30 so be sure to tune in for that as well!!

Whole30 - Days 27-29 - On the Road

Almost done!!! Of course I couldn't make it easy and include Day 30 in this. You'll have to wait a little longer to see how that goes.

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures. I thought it would be easier to take some while I was traveling but being on the road really throws me off and I just didn't think about it a lot of the time. I hope that doesn't take away from the post too much!

Day 27

I maybe had the best night of sleep I've had since starting this thing. I was worried last week when my sleep was bad. Good sleep was one of the better side effects I'd noticed and then it disapeared so I was worried I was doing something wrong. It turns out it was just the stress. Food affects us so much, but stress affects us even more. Having work calm down and getting things ready for my trip (as well as my super long walk) definitely put me in a good spot to get a better night's sleep. I woke up really rested and it felt wonderful.

I started with a nice leftovers breakfast. We still had a couple of pork chops so I heated those up with some potatoes and eggs. I have the worst non-stick pans ever so my over easy eggs always turn out over scrambled. I really need to invest in something better. 

For dinner, I wanted something easy but nice. Getting ready for a trip can be a little stressful with packing and make sure work is wrapped up, but from an eating perspective, it's also nice to enjoy your last home cooked meal in a while. The balance is finding something easy and quick. 

I decided to go with some Mahi Mahi over cauliflower rice with two salsas. The Mahi Mahi was super easy. I thawed my fish fillets over the course of the day then I just lightly seasoned them with salt,garlic powder, and ghee (lime works well too) and baked them for 20 minutes. It's also nice to broil for the last couple of minutes to get some nice color. The cauliflower just needed to be cut up and then pulsed in the food processor until it was in rice sized pieces. Then I just cooked it in bacon fat in a large skillet. The salsas were the easiest part. I started with the mango - I cut up a mango, some cilantro, and a jalapeno. I put it in a food processor with some lime juice and pulsed it a couple of times until I had big chunks. This salsa ended up being way too spicy on its own so I paired it with a milder pico de gallo I had in the fridge. Then I just sliced up some avocado and served it all together. 

This sounds like a lot of work but it was all really easy and I was able to do everything while the fish was baking while also taking plenty of breaks.

And then it was time to mentally get ready to leave my puppy behind. We went on a long walk and got some fun pictures, but I knew I would be sad to leave her behind. 

Day 28

Time to hit the road!

I didn't get a lot of pictures on day 28, but I managed to capture this one of one of my travel solutions. When I drive up to LA in the morning sometimes, I'm definitely guilty of stopping at McDonald's for something quick to grab and go. This obviously wasn't a Whole30 option. I decided just to pack up a little container of leftovers. This gave me something to munch on when I got hungry (or bored sitting it traffic) and made sure I was eating right.

For lunch, I knew exactly where to go - Chipotle. Chipotle is an amazing option for Paleo/Whole30 eating on the go. You can get the burrito bowl salad - no rice or beans, add fajita veggies along with your meat, and then you can have any salsa except corn as well as the extra guac. I did double meat and it was way too much food for me to finish - aka you won't starve eating Whole30 at Chipotle.

For dinner, my mom really came through for me. She make me steak and veggies with a side of mashed butternut squash. It was so delicious and I was really grateful she had no problem adapting dinner to meet my restrictions. 

On that note too, on this kind of challenge, it can be hard to see the day to day changes in yourself. I'd seen my mom about 6 weeks before and when I showed up, she immediately noticed a difference in my appearance. That definitely goes down as a non-scale victory!

Day 29

And then it was off to the races!!! 

Day 29 had me getting up early and heading to the airport to go to Vancouver for my half marathon! Even thought travel is annoying, getting to a new destination is always fun and I was pumped to flaunt my workout gear and excitement for the trip ahead!

But traveling on a restricted eating plan isn't easy. I had a little breakfast before leaving but I wasn't sure if that would be enough so I picked up some pistachios at the airport shop in case I got hungry.

And then we were off! The takeoff out of LAX goes over the ocean and since I nabbed a window seat, I got an awesome view of the beach on takeoff.

When I arrived in Vancouver, I was definitley hungry. A small breakfast and some nuts to snack on definitely don't cut it for a day of traveling. I was able to find a little salad place to get lunch at. It wasn't quite as filling as I'd hoped but it was enough to hold me over until dinner.

For dinner, one of my friends and I went to sushi. I was able to eat some seaweed salad and lots of sashimi to fill me up. I would have taken some pictures but we ended up having a lot of great conversation and it completely distracted me from the food. As much as I love taking food pictures, sometimes it's way more important to live in the moment and it's totally ok to miss a picture if you're just really present in what you're doing.

Summary 

Finding Whole30 options on the road isn't the easiest thing but it's not impossible. You just have to bring along some smart snacks and be patient in the search for menu items that work or can be easily adapted.

Whole30 - Days 24-26 - Powering Through

I heard a quote once - "You can feel crappy all the time, or you can feel real happy all the time, and it's always your choice." It's always stuck with me. Obviously everyone has bad days and we can't always help letting a little crappiness in... but then do what you can to push it out. I closed my computer Friday and I did not open it again all weekend. That was my decision: to be happy.

Day 24

I was really excited about Day 24. We had some friends coming over for a pool day and grilling. Before any of that could start though, we had some groceries to buy. I thought it would be fun to go on a bike ride to the store. Dan could watch the bikes while I ran in. It would be a great way to work out and run errands at the same time. It mostly went really well. We hit some traffic on our bike path which always gets us a little grumpy but overall, it was nice to get out on the bikes and our view was just bonkers gorgeous. 

But OMG grilling... Whole30 actually lends itself perfect to it, and I'm not sure why we haven't done more of it. I'm a little crazy with hosting and making sure there's enough food so I definitely went overboard. I made kobe burgers with sweet potato buns and then some carne asada.

We also had a nice fruit tray laid out. Notice how I went with the actual cantaloupe this time instead of those inconsistent pepinos.. we also had some prosciutto because salty pig parts + sweet fruit = heaven

To top off the tacos, I made some bomb guacamole and bought some salsa. I've been hesitant to buy salsa because of possible non-compliant ingredients but I always feel like something is missing when I made my own. I decided to just buy some but read the ingredients carefully. Turns out, the one I normally buy was definitely ok so that was awesome to find out.

My plate turned out awesome as well! My friend, Leanne, brought some veggies to grill as well which rounded everything out beautifully.

After our pool and sun time, we did some hot yoga with my friend Lindsey. It was such an awesome easy going Saturday. I had a lot of fears this month about finding things to do that didn't involve drinking. It's been so nice that my friends have still had fun with my sober activities and reminded me that we don't need alcohol to have fun (but that no one will so no when I bring out the wine either).

After yoga, it was nice to come back to so many tasty leftovers. I probably had more fruit than recommended but I normally don't have any and it was such a beautiful summer day, it was nice to have the treat. 

Dan and I went to see Fantastic 4 that night (meh - I'm still really sad they didn't get absorbed into the MCU because they would be so amazing in Civil War... but I digress). When we got home, I captured this cute picture of my two little ones sharing the couch. I think they might be best friends soon...

Day 25

Day 25, I just felt awful. I feel like I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. I usually stay up until the same time but I'll wake up an hour before my alarm raring to go. This isn't a bad thing, of course. It's given me some more me time in the mornings. However, it means that I'm probably not getting enough sleep at night.

On Day 25, it finally caught up to me. It was as if my body knew that we didn't really have any plans and was telling me to just take a time out. I woke up later than usual, took the dog out, and then crawled back into bed for another 3 hours. When I finally woke up again, I had monster cramps and just felt like I didn't want to move at all.

I ended up spending most of the day lounging around and reading. I thought cramps was something Whole30 would help with so I was a little bummed that they seemed worse than usual. 

Eventually, by dinner time, I was feeling better. I had the foresight to thaw some pork chops while I was out of it. I was able to cook those up pretty quickly which I roasted some brussel sprouts and sauteed some sweet potatoes. 

The other good thing was that there were lots of leftovers!! It's always nice to set myself up to do a little less work, especially since I wasn't sure I'd be feeling better. 

Day 26

I definitely started my work day with some of the same frustrations as last week which wasn't awesome for me. I decided to take a different approach and fight fire with water instead of more fire. I very politely tried to explain processes and deal with reason. However, those things didn't work. Luckily, my boss jumped in and really supported my case. It's definitely a game changer when you can get some back up and remember that you're not the unreasonable party.

After work was done, I decided to get in my run that I wasn't feeling well enough to do on Sunday. I have a great 6.5 mile loop but I thought I might be able to do something a little different to cut it down to 5.5-6 so I wasn't over exerting myself on taper week. I ended up getting lost and doing something closer to 7.5 miles. Oops.

After the run/hike, I was off to book club. I managed to get a nice shrimp and crab salad minus the cheese. I ordered a bacon vinagrette which probably wasn't Whole30 compliant but since I have no proof of that, I figured I could let it slide. I didn't take pictures because I'm sure that would look weird in front of people I don't know too well.

I came home and was feeling much better about work and stress. I was super tired from the extra long excursion but managed to fold laundry and get my packing organized. Having my work stress sorted out was definitely a huge weight off my shoulders and I'm happy it came just in time for me to enjoy the adventure I have ahead of me this weekend.

Summary

I'm happy the biggest source of my stress has calmed down a little. What I want to work on is also just keeping a positive attitude when I'm struggling. Also, sorry for the lack of food pictures. I've had a lot of leftovers to work through which isn't exciting. I have some travel coming up in the next few days though so hopefully I can show you what Whole30 looks like on the road... in Vancouver... FOR MY HALF MARATHON!!!

In the meantime, here's a funny picture of my foobear

Whole30 - Days 20-23 - Coping with Bad Days

This next group of days was probably my hardest of the challenge so far (while writing this, I'm on Day 26 and it still stands that 20-23 were the hardest). I think we all have those days where everything is kind of piling on you and something kind of snaps. You need a break, or to cry, or whatever. Those are the days when comfort food is so needed. I wanted more than anything to have some dark chocolate and a glass of wine, but I wanted to finish this the right way even more.

Day 20

Dan's birthday dinner really threw me off in a few ways. I had a lot of meats and things in the fridge and wasn't quite sure how to schedule them out since we ate out for a meal. I feel really bad about food going to waste, and I've been buying nicer ingredients so that's double wasteful. I decided to go on a day of cooking lots of big exciting things.

I was also feeling a little sluggish though. Despite my best efforts to order clean, I feel like there may have been some sneaky gluten or sugar or something bad in my food from the restaurant. I felt like I'd been hit by a train. If that's how I feel from just the possibility of some bad oils or a touch of gluten or sugar being in my food than it's really even more reason to stick with it (in moderation) once the 30 days is over. I'll have more on that down the road, but it was definitely my first big realization on what I'm thinking of for life after Whole30.

To compound all of that, Tuesdays are the busiest day at work for me and 90 minutes after I'd signed online, there was still no one from my team online.

I decided to call a timeout. Scallops were one of the things I'd bought that I was worried about. I couldn't think of any scallop breakfast dishes so I decided just to do a salad. Whatever, I don't need no breakfast police telling me what I can eat when. 

I also roasted some marrow bones as a kind of second breakfast. I'm a little on the fence about these. The taste is great and they are so good for you. They're reasonably easy to make also. However, I'm a big texture eater and without toast or something to put these on, it's just ooey gooeyness in your mouth and that's not super pleasant. I think I'd want to explore some other options for eating these in the future. 

For lunch, I had some fresh salmon that I cut up to have like sashimi. This would have been great with some cucumber but I'm so bad at using them that it doesn't make sense for me to buy one, use a little, and then waste it.

This also ended up being a perfect lunch because I was swamped at work and it was super easy to prepare. Which gets me started on one of the things that was making my week so stressful. I don't have a stressful job. It's one of the reasons I took it. It paid a little less than I was used to but I was ok with that for the peace of mind and flexibility. However, I'm feeling like week after week, more and more of my interactions have been stressful and condescending and that I can't even enjoy my lunch breaks.

For dinner, I had one more big thing I wanted to cook for the day. I have an amazing cookbook called Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans. It's probably my favorite paleo cookbook and I have a lot of them so you can take it on pretty good authority that it's awesome. There's a recipe for beautiful whole Branzini that I've always wanted to try but I never see them in stores. I've done it a few times with trout but I finally saw Branzini at Whole Foods and had to buy them. They were a little pricey but I was really impressed with the offer to clean them out for me and that definitely helped justify their expense.

The recipe is pretty straight forward - just season the fish and stuff it with lemon and fresh herbs. You then coat it with ghee and let 'em broil. Ok, that was really oversimplified but short of writing out someone else's recipe, that gives you the jist. 

I made the fish with some cauliflower rice and rainbow chard for a lovely, light summer dinner... that would have been perfect with some Rosé.... I'm definitely getting to the point where I'm really missing the wine.

And I know exactly what it has to do with - Bad days.

Tuesday was the start of a string of bad days for me. I was just so stressed out with work and my big energy rush was crashing. All of that combined with trying to fit in cooking and workouts and dealing with the fallout of my aunt's passing... it's all been really hard and stressful. I went to the movies later that night (and of course stepped in dog poop that someone didn't clean up because when you're having a hard time, it can always get worse.. I was wearing new shoes for the first time too, of course) with a coworker and told her about everything I was dealing with. I just wanted to cry. 

I wish I could then turn it around and be like "but Whole30 makes me feel perfect so I don't want wine or chocolate or mac & cheese because I'm super woman eating super foods." It's not like that. I wish there was a chapter in the book on how to deal when you're feeling weak and having a hard time but there isn't. My options were to quit, have the chocolate, have the wine, and be done with it... or to not quit, push through, and be happy with that. Maybe that is the lesson... the silver lining... that as much as giving in would have felt nice, I know I would have felt horrible for quitting. That would have been the last thing I needed - to feel that in addition with so many things being difficult for me, I couldn't even do that one thing in my power to control.

And maybe the strength in ourselves is the one thing to cling onto - because when so many things are disappointing, you can at least work to not disappoint yourself. 

Day 21

Wednesday was a little better. I was still feeling a lot of the same stress and was still getting really overwhelmed. Work was a little slower but it's still hard to deal with people sending you rude emails because they don't understand things. I decided to take a longer lunch break and get some fresh air and feel better. 

That definitely helped and then I came home and prepared a random lunch with more items-that-will-go-bad-soon from the fridge. It ended up being kind of super awesome. I had scallops, prosciutto wrapped figs, guacamole, and the rest of my salmon sashimi. I haven't loved the use of coconut aminos instead of soy sauce but I did like the guacamole as a topping for the scallops and the sashimi. The acidity from the lemon in it really went well with the fish.

I was still feeling pretty "meh" about doing my run though. However, living with a personal trainer, makes it hard to be lazy with those things. Dan is always there to push me when I'm not feeling like getting my workouts in and it's so helpful. Him and Harley came with me on a nighttime run around the harbor and showed me some new sites. It actually was really exhilarating to get out and it helped worked through some of my frustration for sure. I need to remind myself that working out gives you endorphins and endorphins make you happy and happy people don't chuck their work laptop over their balcony. 

For dinner, I just made a simple salad with slow cooker pork, tomatoes, apricots, and spinach. I wasn't super hungry after my run which is weird so it was nice to just throw together something simple and easy. 

Day 22

Day 22 started with some adorableness. Callie had been at the vet getting her teeth cleaned the whole day before. Since we brought her home, Harley kept following her around all day. She had been so worried about her sister not being there. It was pretty cute. Callie was on some meds so she didn't even mind too much. 

Work went better too and there wasn't much to report there. It's still frustrating getting rude emails though, but at least there were fewer of them.

Moving on to fun things... my coworker friend and I had tickets to a dance show that night! We decided to get all dressed up so it was a fun excuse to ruffle through my closet and pick out something fun to wear. It was also nice to see that my dresses were fitting a lot better. Having made it past my Tuesday hurdles definitely felt worth it to know that it's paying off - my stomach is looking flatter, my skin is clear, and I do feel great when I'm not stressed. I had so many people comment on my picture that they're noticing the change and it's so helpful in continuing the journey.

The show was great too! It was Move LIVE on Tour with the Hough siblings. I don't watch Dancing with the Stars so I didn't know what to expect but Lindsey really wanted to go and it sounded fun. It was amazing. They are so talented and I'm not really sure how they danced for 90 minutes and continued to breath. For someone with a long list of fitness goals, it is so motivating to see people do such amazing things with their bodies. I wanted to go home and run a few miles or play Dance Central or just MOVE. It was a perfect night out and I'm so happy Lindsey invited me! It was such a great mental boost.

Day 23

By Friday, I was definitely feeling better in general. I still wasn't back up to some of my earlier energy levels and wasn't waking up an hour early to get my run in like I had planned.. but better.

Better enough to make Dan and I and awesome breakfast of sweet potatoes, bacon, and spinach, topped with poached eggs and hot sauce. It's seriously one of my favorite breakfasts to make and you'll see it pop up quite a bit on my Instagram. 

That evening, I went on my run. This workout was pretty interesting. It was supposed to be 5 1-mile laps with a warm up and cool down. I had trouble finding a good loop until Dan showed me a new area on the Harbor on our Wednesday run. It was a little island that was about a mile.... except that in the summer the symphony is set up there... and they had a show Friday night... so half the island was closed off. I decided to just do shorter laps around the other half and do more of them. I figured about 8-10 laps would be great (in the end, I don't know how many I did). 

I had a lot of fun playing with different speeds. I did not have a lot of fun having guys on Segways try to follow me and check me out. It really bothers me how men think women running are just an open invitation for cat calls and advances. So to any men watching me or anyone else run, here is what they are thinking "MY workout has nothing to do with YOU." I would fathom a guess that almost everyone out there running or biking or whatever, is doing it because they want to accomplish something, not to get some attention from stranger so please, don't make my run about you. That is my time. 

Besides that though, there were lots of bunnies and I got to listen to the symphony on my run which was incredibly lovely. Dan and Harley met me for the end of it and we all walked back together. Coincidentally, all of the bunnies made themselves scarce around the time puppy turned up. 

After the run, I threw together a fun summer dinner. I made little sweet potato pulled pork sliders, grilled peppers, and some carrot and broccoli slaw. I love how I made that sound so easy... I mean, for the most part it was. However, those carrots and broccolis DID NOT come that way. Between a knife and a julienne peeler, I got a small amount of carrot, broccoli, and finger shredded before I finally gave up. I made the dressing from mayo, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and pepper. It kind of tasted like ranch which is definitely going into the mental data base.

The finger... will heal in time. I probably didn't help things much by almost chopping it off again last night. Luckily that one didn't break the skin but I'm literally cutting it very close. 

Summary

Obviously, I had a lot of struggles these days... but as you know, the night is always darkest before the dawn. I don't know if anyone can find 30 consecutive days and know that you won't hit any obstacles during that time. Hell, I hit one of the biggest obstacles in my life on Day 1. On those hard days though - you can't give up. Those are the days that we have to remember why we are doing this - to feel better about ourselves, to have clothes fit better, to chase away cravings, to experiment with new recipes, to run a half marathon.

I think you'll notice in the last few posts that I don't have food pictures every day. Don't worry, that's not me cheating, just being a little lazy. I'm definitely someone who loves and is totally ok with leftovers so where possible, I'll make enough to get me by on those. I have fun cooking so I try to do that as much as possible and have leftovers for breakfast and lunch. However, this week took such a mental toll on me, that I found it hard to come up with creative new recipes and most days found myself scrambling to get something thrown together. I also was snacking a lot which is not encouraged on the program. The main story here is - I'm human and find it really hard to keep up with this every day like anyone else would. Loving to cook and eat good food definitely is a big help, but that doesn't mean I can always pull it off. 

Man when this is over though, I am breaking off the biggest piece of sea salt almond dark chocolate. 

Whole30 - Days 17-19 - TIGER BLOOD

I think this post is going to carry a lot of the same sentiments as the last one but every day is a new adventure and I've still been whipping up lots of new dishes so here goes!

Day 17

Day 17 got off to a really bad start. Imagine a tough morning and then smack it against a wall. That's what kind of bad morning we had.

It started at 4am. The dog started barking. She sometimes does this if she hears another dog or random scary thing in the middle of the night. It's usually nothing so I got her to stop. She still kept doing this gruff, low bark though... and then I realized there was someone knocking on the dog. I instantly got terrified. I thought maybe someone was knocking to see if we were home to try to break it - it was 4am afterall and if you're going to break into someone's place, that would be the time. So Dan went to open the door.. and it was a bunch of Federal agents. They were looking for someone who apparently used to live in our apartment. They quickly realized Dan wasn't their guy and left. We were a bit shaken up but wanted to go back to sleep. I was planning my longest training run for that morning and really wanted a solid night of sleep. So we got all comfortable to head back to dreamland.

And then they knocked again... this time at 4:30. Dan went to answer again and this time they asked him more questions and tried to figure out if we were at all connected to the person they were looking for. We were not. Eventually they left and we got to try to sleep again. Something that is basically impossible when federal agents decked out in tactical gear show up at your door in the middle of the night. It took me another hour to fall asleep and I knew my run would have to wait a day. 

I definitely was happy to sleep in a little later when my alarm went off that morning. When I eventually did get up though, I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would. I was definitely a little more tired that usual and a little shooken up, but I still felt pretty good overall. I decided I wanted to have an active but low impact day so that I could keep up with my activities but not do anything that would tire me out before my long run. I decided to take Harley on a long walk to the dog park so we could play fetch and run around together.

It started pretty well - she was being chased by a dog but she looked like she was having fun. Next thing I know, she is surrounded by big dogs trying to aggressively bite her. I jumped in and tried to pull the dogs off of her. One person half heartedly called her dog but no one really tried to help me. I managed to get the dogs off of Harley and carry her out of the way so I could make sure she wasn't hurt. Once I saw she was fine, I looked over to the other side of the park and saw that there was a little kid picking up someone's puppy. The mom yelled at him and the kid threw the puppy into the dirt.

It baffles me how people go to the dog park and think it's ok to ignore their kids or pets. You're supposed to supervise your dogs and if your dog doesn't play particularly well with others, go at a less busy time. Parents - the dog park isn't a playground for your kids to go play with dogs because you don't want to adopt one. Teach your children to ask before touching a dog and to respect when the answer is not yes. 

We moved to the other side of the park and Harley found a Puggle and Pomeranian to play with instead and we ended up having some fun at the park. It just stinks that we have to constantly either move her or remove her from the park because there are so many dogs that are aggressive to her with owners not doing anything to correct their pets. 

After we left the park, we explored some of the trails in the park and then had a lazy rest of the day just reading and working on my cross stitch. Harley helped me do a little yoga as well. Overall, puppy and I had a good day together even with all of the bumps along the way.

Since my run was moved, I wanted to make sure my dinner was a well balanced. I picked up some steak and decided to make that with a white/sweet potato medley and a fresh salad. It was a well balanced meal that gave me the fuel I needed for my run.

Day 18

Since I've already been asked once, I'll just cut to the chase... my 11 mile run was MUCH better than my 10 mile run. It was supposed to be 12 miles but I was worried about going over and actually hitting 13 (which I don't want to do until race day) so I turned around a little early.

I got an earlier start and the morning was pretty overcast which was a great help. I also put on a lot of sunscreen and light t-shirt so that my sun exposure would be lower. It's funny how the preparation for the run is as big a part as the running when you're getting ready for a race. Making adjustments to your pre-run rituals to find the right combination for race day has been such a help for me.

Despite the better prep and running more, my run wasn't all that much faster. I've been taking my runs as an opportunity to sight see on foot a bit. It's something I'll probably do on race day as well since it's supposed to be a very scenic course.

This one really touched me, it was the Cancer Survivor Park. I went around and read all of the plaques. My family has been very blessed that my mom has been a multiple cancer survivor. However, we've all too recently learned that not everyone gets to carry that title. It was nice to take a little time out from my run to think about my mom and my Tia and everything they've gone through. I do wish there had been a little more of a memorial to those we've lost to cancer though.

I love the beautiful parks I get to run through in San Diego. It was fun to run to one area we'd only ever driven to. It was also the point where I got to turn around and head home. That's definitely my favorite part of any run - when you know you have fewer steps to take than you've already taken and you're that much closer to food.

When I got home, Dan was a little shocked at how much energy I still had. I think that has a big part to do with Whole30 and feeling great from eating great food. It also makes me feel really confident that I can do this half marathon. 

My favorite thing about running though... all the eating I get to do afterward. Now that I'm a little more used to my Whole30, finding things to recoup my calories hasn't been as hard.

I had these little pepino melons lying around, so I thought I'd make a snack with those. 

And what better snack than prosciutto wrapped melon!!! The melons themselves were interesting. Some tasted like honeydew and some like cantaloupe. I think I'd rather just buy a cantaloupe next time and remove the variable in the equation. 

 

As another little meal, I had some leftover chicken, salsa, and avocado. It was such a good mix of the protein and fat that my body needed. 

After that little meal, we went to go see Mission Impossible V which was crazy and fun and great. I don't know if you've seen this video of the how they did the plane stunt in the beginning of the movie but it gives me shivers everytime. After that scene, I was basically like "Ok, let's go." The rest of the movie was definitely worth staying for though.

After the movie, I was, of course, starving again (damn running) so I was excited to come home and try out a recipe I'd planned for dinner. It was sesame zoodles with some sesame ginger pork meatballs. 

Looks amazing right?

I have a little confession... I don't really like sesame. I thought this was something I'd maybe grown out of as my tastes have developed over the years. Nope. I still really don't like sesame. And this dish was like 110% sesame flavored. It's sad because it looked so good and we were really hungry but sometimes something just isn't for you. I know so many friends who would have loved it though. Maybe I'll gift them my tahini and sesame oil...

Day 19 

Day 19 was Dan's birthday! Obviously things like that can be potentially dangerous to this sort of challenge. Dan didn't really want to celebrate so I figured I was in the clear... however, I still felt like we should do something. 

I decided to make a group reservation for us at a pub that we'd past a few times. They had some gluten free options so I was able to put something together that I thought it would be ok. It was just a bunless, cheeseless burger and a side salad but I managed. It definitely wasn't exciting enough to take a picture of.

The biggest struggle came when we got home though. I had bought Dan a gorgeous cake for his birthday... and watched him and our friends eat it. To add insult to injury, they insisted I cut it since I was the host. It was so hard to not lick the knife. 

The next couple of days, I made Dan eat the leftovers as quickly as possible so I wouldn't be tempted by it's presence in our fridge.

Summary 

I don't feel like I have to much to report on Whole30. My real excitement is with the half marathon training! I'm so proud of what I've done so far with my training and I really feel like I can do this thing! I do like that in general, I have a lot more energy and it's made tackling my training much more feasible. I feel like this group of days were really the peak of my "Tiger blood" stage where my energy was super high and everything seemed very managable. 

Whole 30 - Days 14-16 - I Dream of... Donuts?

As I get further into this challenge, it's getting way easier. My last trip to the store, I had so many ideas for new recipes that I haven't tried before. I think my new attitude towards this is to try to be as creative as possible with my meals. If I can get through this without repeating a dinner, I will be really impressed with myself.

Day 14

I'm kind of drawing a blank on this day. I usually write these as I go along but the days after this one were so exciting I just kind of skipped over it. At least I have pictures to document my food!

I love non-traditional breakfasts. It's fun to mix up traditional and non-traditional as well. Using the leftover salmon with my eggs was a nice way to change things up. I think the whole dish would have been amazing with some hollandaise sauce but I had made some over my leftover dinner the night before and thought it would be too much to have two days in a row. Even though it's Whole30 compliant, it is still mostly butter. 

Dinner was super exciting though. I made some slow cooked short ribs from my Practical Paleo cookbook and they were amazing. I think this is going to be one that we make all the time. I served it over a bed of mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli. 

Can I also just say how much I love the slow cooker? I really only used it for chili and carnitas before but I've been using it all the time through this Whole30. It makes things so much easier. Know you won't have time to cook? Set something up in the slow cooker and BAM dinner is ready for you. 

Day 15

Days 12-13 in the book said that some people have weird food dreams around those days. If I'd had them before, I don't remember. However, last night, I had a very vivid dream FILLED with food. I had one about going to a restaurant and ordering a dish I thought would be Whole30 only to find it covered in cheese. I had another about a big family party that had cakes and donuts and all sorts of desserts or treats. Dream Nikki was having an almost impossible time time resisting but somehow she did. Another thing I remember? I was wearing one of my favorite dresses and instead of being a little too tight, it was a little loose. I'm happy my sub conscious reminded me that although there are struggles on this journey, there are reasons we stick with it. 

Also... I'M HALF WAY!!!!

Day 14 and 15 were filled with fire alarm testing. Fire alarm testing is possibly one of the worst things you can experience. It is basically the fire alarm ringing on and off all day. The animals and myself were not happy. I decided to do some work on the balcony to escape the noise. My little puppy assisstant joined me.

Before working though, I did a little blog writing. Isn't that super meta - a picture of my writing this blog in this this blog? 

For dinner, it was another slow cooker meal. This time I did chicken breasts with a green chili salsa that ended up as some awesome shredded chicken. I served those with fried plantains, an avocado, and some mango salsa. Mango salsa is basically my favorite thing ever. There was a restaurant in San Francisco that had the best mango salsa (and maybe the only one I ever liked) and I've always tried to re-create it.

This time I came very close. The salsa was mango, heirloom tomato, cilantro (luckily not from a recalled area!), jalapeno, and a little lime. I pulsed it in my ninja until it had a liquid but chunky consistency. I think there was only one little change separating it from my dream salsa and I really want to test out my theory. 

This was also the first day I really felt the tiger blood (super high energy feeling you get when your body has adapted to all your healthy eating). I thought I'd had it a few days before but then hit a slump shortly after. However, this day, I checked so many things off my to-do list. I have a huge cross stitch project I want to start and got a lot of that organized as well as going through MONTHS of mail, sending out long over due cards, and cleaning the apartment.

It was exactly like this

Day 16

The last couple days, I've kind of been falling in love with eggs. Usually at this point may Whole30ers are sick of eggs. However, I've been changing up my breakfast enough to not feel that way at all. Then, I looked at some of the really basic egg recipes in the Whole30 book and decided to try going back to basics. I forgot how delicious perfectly simple scrambled eggs can be. I usually throw in everything in the fridge and more. The eggs don't need it. Just eggs, some coconut milk, pepper, and hot sauce and BAM perfect eggs. 

After finishing work Friday, I wanted to finish the set up for my next cross stitch project. I've been holding on to these supplies for months, a little to scared and lazy to tackle this one. However, Whole30 has me feeling so energetic that I finally just did it. It was nice to get the project to a place where I can actually start stitching. 

For dinner, I wanted something quick and easy. I had a recipe for some lemon chive zoodles which I thought would be a nice change from marinara sauces. I made those with some chicken thighs. The sauce was pretty good but the base was mayo and it overwhelmed a little bit.

That night, we went out with some old friends who were in town. It was really my first big temptation since I've been shutting myself in a bit. I stuck to my exciting soda waters though and still had a good time. It really didn't even feel like too much of a struggle to not drink.

Summary

I think we're really getting there. I feel like I'm out of any slumps I had and I'm feeling great. I'm sleeping better and I've been dusting off all my paleo cookbooks and finding fun recipes to try out. There are hits and misses with those but at least I'm trying them and finding out!

I also am feeling amazing. It's so nice to have the energy to do all the things I usually put off. It's funny how we don't realize how much food and stuff affects us, until we change it up. I can't believe how much better I've been sleeping and feeling. It's really nice.

But I still miss cheese.