Day 20...

The boys spent the day skiing while I spent the day working - but that's ok. I still got to enjoy the view and got my workout in while they were doing their thing. Our planning and good packing meant we had everything we needed for compliant breakfasts, lunch and dinner! 

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, half an avocado, and 2 slices of compliant bacon - a nice treat. Don't forget about the black coffee!

Lunch - mixed green salad with leftover salmon & brussel sprouts from the night before, cucumbers, half an avocado and slivered almonds. So good.

Dinner - BBQ pork and fried rice - well, cauliflower rice! Wow, I can't believe we waited this long to try making rice out of cauliflower. It was so good and I think next time we do Pad Thai, it will be with this "rice" instead of the "noodles." We used recipes from "Well Fed" for both the pork and the fried rice. 

Workout - 50-40-30-20-10 with 2 sets of jump rope and 2 sets of seal jacks for the cardio intervals. Also got in some additional weight lifting - w/ focus on shoulders & back - at the gym on top of the mountain. 

11 more to go...

Day 19...

We left today to head to my family's home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Adam has teacher work days making for a 4 day weekend, so we figured we'd get some skiing in while we had the chance. I'll admit during this challenge we've been a little bit reclusive - not really leaving the house much - a benefit of working from home - so this trip was going to require good planning and packing! We were sure to make meal plans and packed up the essentials (coconut oil, ghee, bubble water, avocados, eggs, etc.) and let's not forget running shoes and workout clothes! :) 

Breakfast - two eggs scrambled cooked in some coconut oil with a half an avocado and black coffee. Look at me changing things up.

Lunch - mixed green salad topped with garlic shrimp, half an avocado, hard boiled egg, cucumbers and slivered almonds.

Dinner - wild sockeye salmon baked with some garlic aioli on top and sauteed prosciutto, leeks and brussel sprouts on the side. I love brussel sprouts and this is one of my favorite ways to prepare them. A little ghee in the pan then crisp everything up then I add in some apple cider vinegar for flavor and to add some steam. 

Workout - REST DAY! Woot! :)

11 more to go...

Day 18...

Nothing too exciting to report today, other than another successful day is in the books! I'm only missing fruit during lunch - my salads need dates and pomegranate seeds - but that's ok - I can deal. 

Breakfast - no frittata for me today - instead I had a leftover spicy tuna cake from the night before and half an avocado. I can't even with those things. So good want to make them again ASAP. 

Lunch - mixed greens salad topped with prosciutto, hard boiled egg, roasted beets, roasted carrots, half an avocado, slivered almonds, & cucumbers. Dijon vinaigrette for dressing - which adds a much needed sweetness with those dates and pomegranate seeds missing. 

Dinner - hamburgers on portobello caps. I almost thought we'd finally broken our streak of not repeating a dinner, but then I remembered we did hamburgers on lettuce buns and chicken on portobello caps, so I guess the streak is still alive!  I put some sunshine sauce on my mushroom and some chopped jalapeno, then the burger and two strips of compliant bacon. Pretty simple and not too heavy of a dinner. I'll admit I was up at 2:00 a.m. feeling hungry - but that's ok! :) 

Workout - 4 Tabatas - Round 1 air squats & jump rope; Round 2 plank & push ups - woah; Round 3 scissor crunches & sit ups; Round 4 pliet squats & good mornings. Nothing too crazy (excpet Round 2 - I love those "super sets") but I definitely feel every move and I know I'm getting stronger as a result. 

12 more to go...

Day 17...

It was a snow day here which meant my son was home from school. He had fun getting to play in the snow a bit and thankfully never asked for hot chocolate (he always makes me sip it to be sure it isn't too hot!). 

Breakfast - slice of frittata, a whole avocado, and black coffee. I think I mentioned this previously, but I also make sure to get in a big glass of water with breakfast as well. 

Lunch - leftover shephards pie - on a snowy and cold day it felt good to change it up and eat something warm and cozy - also, good use of leftovers - no waste here! 

Dinner - spicy tuna cakes with garlic zoodles - can I just say - woah! So good! These tuna cakes were so flavorful, had a bit of a kick from the diced up jalapeno, and twirling the zoodles on my fork was amazing. Probably my favorite dinner thus far. We used a recipe from Nom Nom Paleo but adapted it a bit. Instead of using muffin tins, we simply formed the cakes into bigger patties and cooked in oven on a cookie sheet. I see us making these over and over and over again - easy, inexpensive ingredients, and did I mention how yummy they were? And zoodles - oh zoodles how good and easy you are! Look for these to pop up quite a bit in the last half of this challenge. 

This is the coolest thing ever...

I always wear gloves when handling jalapenos - learned that trick the hard way!

Workout - I did 6 Tabata's today. Round 1 - kettle ball swings & jump rope; Round 2 - dead lifts with bicep curls (did those for the full 4 minutes); Round 3 - plank & mountain climbers; Round 4 - sit ups with weighted lat pull downs & bicycle crunches; Round 5 - weighted leg raises - rotating sides; Round 6 - chest flies with legs extended & off the ground & chest press with legs extended & off the ground. Hurts. So. Good. 

13 more to go...

PS: I've already got my son excited to eat "green noodles" on St. Patrick's Day ;) Sneaky...

Day 16...

Well hello second half of the Whole30 challenge! Nice to see you. I can't believe it's halfway over and surprisingly we've yet to repeat a single dinner (obviously not the case for breakfast and lunch!) This was a pretty great day that really proved changes were being made. I for one woke up feeling like I was finally seeing some real changes in my body - so that was a nice start to the day - and then after eating a pretty early dinner we all decided to hit the YMCA for a post-dinner workout. That was definitely never something I'd have the energy or desire to do pre-Whole30. Adam loved getting to play basketball with other kids in the gym while Andy and I worked off dinner and lifted weights together. It was a great way to end the day and I see us doing this a lot more often. 

Breakfast - slice of frittata, whole avocado (making up for the fact that I couldn't have my grapefruit) and black coffee. 

Lunch - leftover pad thai - which turned out to be a mistake when I remembered I had a dentist appointment at 2:00 -- hello onion breath!! Whoops! 

Dinner - rib eye and veggies. Plain and simple. Roasted carrots, asparagus, beets, broccoli and mushrooms alongside a delicious pan fried (in ghee!) rib eye. We split the steak between the two of us so it was the perfect amount. Colorful and flavorful plate for the win! 

Workout - Did 20 minutes on the treadmill walking uphill - most of it at an average of 6 percent incline, then the last quarter of a mile at a 9 percent incline. Nothing too crazy, but the hiking felt good. Then I did two 21-15-9's. Round 1 - 21 Overhead press, 21 lat pulls, 21 pull downs (I've never done a pull up in my life, but I have a goal to do one this year - so this exercise helps) then 15, then 9. Round 2 - 21 squats with weighted overhead arm presses, 21 crunches, 21 bicycle crunches - then 15, then 9. 

14 more to go...

Day 15...

We had a very low key weekend - highlights being our weekly trip to Wegmans and a family outing to the YMCA. This was our first time dropping Adam off in the "child watch" program - which he loved and we loved getting to work out together. At the end we gathered Adam up and let him run around the indoor track with us - family fitness for the win! 

As if that was exciting enough (note a hint of sarcasm) we also whipped up our first batch of homemade mayo. I will say, it is pretty cool to see oil and eggs turn into a thick & tasty substance. We used this recipe from "Well Fed." Now that we've got the basics down, we can use this recipe as a starter for Ranch dressing, dips for the upcoming Super Bowl, etc. etc. 

Breakfast - black coffee. I know, not a very good breakfast, but we were out the door early to do our grocery shopping and by the time we finished that we wanted to get to the YMCA and then it was lunch time. I was definitely hungry by then. 

Lunch - arugula and spinach salad with garlic shrimp, cucumbers, slivered almonds, half an avocado and a hard boiled egg. No more dates or pomegranate seeds for this girl (tear). 

Dinner - Chicken Pad Thai - soooooooo good, I can't believe this meal was Whole30 compliant. Again we looked to "Well Fed" for the recipe and while it was a bit hands on (as Pad Thai recipes always are) the outcome is well worth it. I see us varying this up a bit maybe doing shrimp instead of chicken. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but here it is anyhow. 

Workout - treadmill for a mile, walking uphill - just a good excuse to get moving then I did two 21-15-9's. Round one I did 21 medicine ball passes w/ my husband (not sure what else to call those - we stood back to back and passed the ball side to side - it was a 15 pound ball and we were dying), 21 push-ups, and 21 pliet squats with overhead tricep presses (then 15, then 9) and Round 2 was 21 leg presses - increasing weight each round, 21 shoulder presses and 21 rowing - increasing weight each time (then 15 then 9). I'm feeling all that lifting/sculpting today - and it feels good! 

15 more to go...

Day 14...

Pretty low key Saturday. We had a lazy morning - something about getting to stay in jammies for a bit while drinking coffee and watching some TV is always a treat. Then we ran some errands and did some work around the house. We tend to have pretty packed weekends, so this was a nice change of pace. 

Breakfast - slice of frittata, half an avocado, half a grapefruit (my last one for 2 weeks) and black coffee. 

Lunch - arugula and spinach salad with smoked salmon, cucumbers, dates, half an avocado, hard boiled egg, slivered almonds and pomegranate seeds. Boy am I going to miss the added sweetness of the pomegranate seeds and dates during the last half of this challenge. 

Snack - one last bowl of apples and pears only this time I accidentally sprinkled cumin on them instead of cinnamon - blech. 

Dinner - Shepard's pie - we used the recipe from "Well Fed" and incorporated some of our leftover lamb chili. It was a great use of leftovers. We also added some mashed sweet potatoes to the mashed cauliflower mixture. It was so good and perfect for a winter night. 

Workout - I did 6 Tabata workouts. Round 1 I did wood chopper lunges - rotating sides each minute. Round 2 I did pliet squats with overhead tricep presses & jump rope. Round 3 I did plank & downward dog push ups. Round 4 I did sit ups with weights & bicycle crunches. Round 5 I did leg raises with weights - rotating sides each minute. Round 6 I did chest flies w/ legs extended and off the ground & chest press w/ legs extended and off the ground. It was a great workout - lots of core work. Also got in a good walk with my dog. 

16 more to go...

Day 13...

Another work week in the books and all is still going well with the challenge. Still had a bit of a desire to crack open a bottle of wine and pick up a pizza for dinner, but only a small desire that was easily avoided and of course nothing beats the feeling of waking up the next day knowing you made really smart choices the day before. So, on to the weekend! 

Breakfast - slice of frittata, half an avocado, half a grapefruit and black coffee. Will this ever get old? :) 

Lunch - arugula and spinach salad with leftover chicken from the night before, cucumbers, hard boiled egg, half an avocado, dates, slivered almonds and pomegranate seeds. Those pomegranate seeds will be missed next week (the dates too) not only because they taste so good, but they had such a pretty color to the salad - seriously, how could you not want to eat this for lunch everyday? 

Dessert - cashed in one more time on my ability to have fruit with some chopped pears, apples, some more pomegranate seeds, coconut, lemon juice and cinnamon/nutmeg sprinkle. So satisfying. 

Appetizer - had a handful of pistachios and some plantain chips dipped in some sunshine sauce - wow, so good. Those plantain chips will be good for the Super Bowl (even if I have to sacrifice some "no fruit" points to enjoy them). 

Dinner - lamb chili served over spaghetti squash. This chili was so good and surprising with the lamb instead of typical ground beef. So sweet and flavorful. We simply cooked the meat in water, then added in onions and carrots galore (even more sweetness) and a big can of diced tomatoes. After a couple hours on the stove it was nice and thick and the spaghetti squash was the perfect addition - especially considering we couldn't have rice, cheese or tortilla chips as options. Didn't even miss those things! A great Friday night meal. 

Workout - I'm officially on the Tabata bandwagon. I love the intervals - 20 seconds is just long enough to make you start to cringe, but not so long that you can't push even harder towards those last seconds. Plus the ability to vary up the exercises keeps it interesting. Today I did a set of leg extensions with "W" arm presses - each minute I would switch the leg so my arms/shoulders were on fire by the end of the 4 minutes. Then I did a set of kettlebell swings and jump rope. Then I did a set of sit ups and bicycle crunches. I ended with a set of jump rope and jumping jacks. 

17 more to go...

Day 12...

Another day in the books and I noticed something new last night as I was strolling through Target after dinner - as I was picking up some lunch box items for Adam I found myself instinctively reading the ingredients. It's not that I haven't always been somewhat mindful of what I'm feeding my son, but I've also had no problem buying fruit snacks and other fun treats for him without too much worry. While I know I have a long way to go in terms of getting Adam to eat a more varied diet (spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, seasonings, etc.) I am hopeful that this Whole30 experiment will teach me to better control the amount of sugar and overall "crap" that he gets. Last night's snack buying trip was success #1...gotta start somewhere. 

Breakfast: slice of frittata, half an avocado, half a grapefruit and black coffee. This was a new frittata, so it felt like something different. I used zucchini, red onion, brussel sprouts and mushrooms and this time I added some coconut milk to the eggs - wow, what a difference. The texture of the eggs was much fluffier and the touch of sweetness was a nice change. I don't see my breakfast menu changing anytime soon - aside from the eventual dropping of the grapefruit part. 

Lunch: arugula and spinach salad with a hard boiled egg, half an avocado, cucumber, dates, pomegranate seeds and a dijon balsamic dressing. I really went heavy on the greens this time, trying to get lots of spinach in during my lunch. 

Dessert: I replicated my dessert from day 11 - again in an effort to use of the fruit in the house before week 3 and also because it tastes so darn good! Chopped pear and apple with shredded coconut, juice of one lemon and nutmeg and cinnamon sprinkled on top (I ditched the macadamia nuts this time). 

Dinner: Chicken "sandwiches." We did open faced chicken sammies, as we like to call them, on portobello mushroom caps with sunshine sauce, avocado, onion and cucumber. Some baked sweet potato fries on the side made for a filling and delicious meal. We've yet to repeat a dinner since we started and yet we're finding lots of favorites that I know we'll continue to make even after day 30. 

Workout: I did my first Tabatta workout and loved it! I did 4 rounds - Round 1 I alternated between plank and mountain climbers - hello arms and core burning! Round 2 I alternated between plie squats and air squats - hello quads burning! Round 3 I alternated between sit ups and bicycle crunches - hello abs burning! Round 4 I alternated between alternating lunges and good mornings - hello everything burning at this point! Quick but effective workout - I look forward to doing more of these. 

18 more to go...

Day 11...

Another successful day in the books. One thing we seem to be struggling a little bit with is the "snacks" factor. Not so much for me, but for my husband. To be fair, he doesn't really eat breakfast or lunch, so he does tend to come home from work hungry before dinner is ready. We bought some Lara Bars at Trader Joes last night, so maybe those will satisfy his need to "snack." 

Breakfast - the last slice of frittata, half an avocado, half a grapefruit (I'm going to miss those next week) and black coffee. I am also trying to start my morning with a full glass of water before I have my coffee. On a side note - the amount of water I'm drinking during this (we are required 1 liter a day for our challenge) has been really helpful. I used to wake up so thirsty in the middle of the night - not anymore - of course I'm also not even waking up in middle of night anymore, so whether it's related or not, I do know that I always feel better when I'm getting lots of water in throughout the day. 

Lunch - arugula and spinach salad topped with shrimp, half an avocado, one hard boiled egg, cucumbers, dates and pomegranate seeds. Dijon balsamic vinaigrette for dressing. 

Dessert - after my salad I was still feeling hungry and knowing I've got to limit my fruit intake next week I decided to use up some of the fruit I've got lying around. I chopped up a pear and some apple into a bowl, squeezed a lemon onto it then added in some shredded coconut and chopped macadamia nuts and sprinkled some nutmeg and cinnamon onto it. It was such a nice treat - the lemon juice gave it such good flavor. 

Dinner - Shredded Thai Pork Tenderloin with red peppers, onions & green peppers over shredded cabbage. This was my first slow cooker recipe since we started the challenge. One of our favorite non-Whole30 dinners is our Thai Pork, which we were able to alter slightly to make it compliant. I just put a chopped up onion in the bottom of slow cooker, then placed the tenderloin on top, seasoned with some olive oil, salt and pepper, then topped with a chopped red and green pepper and more onion. I threw in some garlic cloves, coconut aminos, and compliant fish sauce and let it cook all afternoon. Then we took the pork out, added some cashew butter and coconut milk, then shredded the pork and put it back in the sauce. I also made some Sunshine Sauce as an additional topper - it was so good!! 

Workout - 21 curtsey lunges, 21 air squats and 21 good mornings - then 15, then 9. Then 21 push ups, 21 sit-ups and 21 bicycle crunches - then 15, then 9. 

19 more to go...

Day 10...

Well, I'm a third of the way through this thing. Already week 2 seems to be going by faster than week 1, we'll see if that keeps up. 

Breakfast - turning into Groundhog Day here - slice of frittata, half an avocado, half a grapefruit and black coffee. 

Lunch - spinach and arugula salad (I love arugula - so peppery and flavorful, my favorite) topped today with garlic and herb shrimp, half an avocado, cucumber, dates, roasted sweet potato, and pomegranate seeds. The shrimp are a fun treat from Wegmans. We made sure when we ordered them to find out how they were prepared to be sure they were compliant. They make a great appetizer at night and today they made the perfect topper for my salad. 

Appetizers - we had my folks over for dinner as they are about to head out of town for a few weeks. I loved that we were still able to entertain and serve compliant and tasty apps. We did our smoked salmon & cucumber bites with dill, capers and garlic aioli and bacon (compliant of course) wrapped chorizo (compliant) stuffed dates. Those dates are seriously the best things - if you've never made them, you should. Just butterfly the date, remove pit, put in a chunk of pre-cooked chorizo, then wrap up in half a slice of bacon and secure with toothpick. Pop in oven at 400 for about 15 minutes or so and you have an ooey gooey sweet and savory appetizer. Perfect for Super Bowl menu! 

Dinner - roasted lamb, roasted asparagus and broccoli/cauliflower soup. I made the same soup recipe I made last week only I add in some broccoli as well. It was really good. 

Workout - I cashed in on my rest day as I had lots of prep work to do for our dinner. I'll be back at it tomorrow! :) 

20 more to go...

Day 9...

The organizer of the challenge I'm in said that week two would be the toughest week. The competition and new way of eating isn't "shiny and new," to use her words, any longer and thus making the right choices and sticking to workouts will be tougher than in week one. Now, I realize we're only 2 days in to week two, but I feel the opposite. I'm far more prepared for week two, I've already got dinner mapped out for the whole week, and the desire to move more and keep up with workouts is even greater this week (last week I had to convince myself each day). Here's hoping the sentiments last...

Breakfast - Back to my usual - frittata, half an avocado, black coffee and half a grapefruit. We have to try and limit our fruits in weeks 3 & 4 so I'm going to live it up while I can. 

Lunch - Kitchen Sink Salad the sequel! Only today, I topped my salad with leftover salmon from the night before, rather than smoked salmon. I'm telling you, loading up a bowl of greens with cucumbers, dates, pomegranate seeds, avocado, hard boiled egg and roasted sweet potatoes does not feel like "diet" food at all and I swear I'm not even missing the cheese. I know I won't avoid cheese forever after the 30 days, but I can see myself reserving a handful of feta, goat or blue cheese crumbles for special occasions. 

Dinner - Spaghetti (squash) and meatballs - This was a Whole30 victory for sure! Our spaghetti and meatball recipe, given to us by a dear friend, is my favorite comfort food. Its usually what I request after being on business travel for awhile, for birthdays or Mother's day, etc. So we thought we'd see how it would taste when we made it compliant. The meatballs typically call for Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs - instead we simply omitted the cheese and made some "bread" crumbs by cooking up a little coconut flower in some coconut oil. It added a great sweetness to the meatballs and thus to the sauce as well (which normally calls for brown sugar.) I served it all on top of some al dente spaghetti squash -which by the way, I was able to twirl on my fork. Comfort food, great taste, and no sugar or pasta required! 

Workout - In addition to getting in a 40 minute walk with my dog first thing in the morning I knocked out a 50-40-30-20-10 at lunch time. This time for the 1 minute cardio intervals I did jumping jacks, jump rope, butt kicks, and another round of jump rope. I definitely noticed an improvement in my ability to knock out the set of 30 push ups - supposed that seems only fair as I've been doing push ups on practically a daily basis since this thing started. 

21 more to go...

Day 8...

Wow! 1 week under my belt and I can say there is a little extra room under my belt as well. Maybe not a ton, but progress is progress. I don't own a scale, I never cared much for them, in fact I usually cover my eyes at the doctors office when I have to step on one. I don't care much for numbers, I just know when I feel good and when my clothes are fitting the way I'd like (or aren't fitting at all because they are too big, ha). So I don't have any numbers to report, other than I made it 7 days and am ready for the next 7.

Breakfast - I changed it up a bit this morning. I felt like I needed a bit more roughage in my system so I blended up a smoothie as my main breakfast. Two handfuls of baby spinach, a banana, some frozen pineapple and a little bit of water. Just to be sure I wasn't starving and ready to cheat by 10:00, I also ate a hard boiled egg. This turned out to be just what I needed and I felt great all the way until lunch. Bonus - my son drank a small cup of the smoothie that was left in the blender. Always good when I can sneak veggies into him.

Lunch - Kitchen Sink Salad - yeah, that's the best way to describe it. Arugula and spinach topped with just about anything I could find in the fridge - trying to make room after our morning run to Costco, Wegmans and Trader Joes! I threw in roasted beets, roasted sweet potatoes, cucumbers, smoked salmon, half an avocado, dates, pomegranate seeds and topped with a Dijon balsamic dressing.

Snack - With football games on in the background and after my dog for a walk and getting in a workout, I was ready to nibble on something so I had a pear and some shrimp that we picked up from Wegmans. I love that this snack was satisfying, filling, and didn't leave me craving normal football watching food - heck - I think even after just one week I'm changing what I'd even consider "normal" football watching food.

Dinner - Lemon, dill & garlic broiled salmon, sauteed shredded cabbage & green beans. This salmon is so simple, cooks in about 15 minutes and the flavor is off the charts. We've even made this for a dinner party we threw for about 35 people when my father-in-law turned 70 - it's just that good. I left some of the fish unseasoned so my son would eat it - baby steps.

Workout - This was going to be my rest day, but after taking Liddy for a walk, I was feeling full of energy and just really felt like knocking out workout. Now that is a day 8 success! Even better - I still have my rest day to use later this week. Today I did 21 plie squats, 21 air squats, 21 good mornings - then 15, then 9. Then 21 push ups, 21 mountain climbers, 21 sit ups - then 15, then 9.

22 more to go...

Day 7...

I'll be honest, I woke up on Day 7 (a Saturday) with a slight hankering for waffles, but I quickly pushed that notion aside and instead reminded myself I had another grapefruit in the fridge to fill my need for something sweet for breakfast. Saturdays and Sundays are the days that make me a little nervous in this challenge as they were usually reserved for eating lunch out, snacking and drinking a beer during football games and usually hanging out with friends/family. Alas, Saturday had arrived and I was ready to tackle it head on. 

Breakfast - slice of frittata, half an avocado, black coffee and half a grapefruit. I swear this breakfast isn't getting old yet, though I might try and think of something to make this weekend ahead of time to jazz up next week's menu. 

Lunch - arugula and spinach salad topped with roasted beets, roasted sweet potato, half an avocado, cucumber, chopped dates and slivered almonds. A little squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I was all set. 

Snack - we were having a little bit of a later dinner and I knew we were headed to the Camper/RV show at the convention center (cue the aroma of popcorn!) so I grabbed an afternoon banana as a preventative measure. 

Dinner - This was my first real challenging moment of my Whole30 thus far. We had plans to have dinner with my sister-in-law and her husband which turned from eating at their house to going out to eat. Yikes! I hadn't planned on eating out just yet, or maybe at all, during this challenge, but luckily some fellow challengers had been posting helpful tips on our Facebook page to help if you do find yourself at a restaurant. It wasn't very crowded so it allowed me the ability to be slightly more high maintenance at a restaurant than I normally would be. I avoided the delicious smelling warm rolls they brought out when we sat down and instead quickly asked for a bottle of sparkling water. Happily no one wanted an appetizer - not sneaking a bite of calamari would have been tough - so it was straight on to our dinner order. They didn't have any entree salads on the menu so I got a side salad, hold the cheese (words I never thought I'd hear myself say) with shrimp added (sauteed in olive oil, no butter) and oil and vinegar on the side. It might not have been the best dinner I had all week but I was more happy to be enjoying conversation with family out in public all while knowing I was keeping up my end of the Whole30 bargain. Score! 

Dessert - while others enjoyed one last glass of red, I happily sipped on a cup of black decaf coffee. 

Workout - 21 curtsy squats, 21 mountain climbers, 21 good mornings - then 15 then 9. Then push ups, 21 sit ups, 21 bicycle crunches - then 15 then 9. My goal for week two is to jazz up these workouts a bit and to get moving more. So easy in this cold weather to not get outside for a walk with my dog, but she deserves it, I need it and well, we're going to make it happen. I also plan to hit the YMCA a few times next week even if it's to just get some longer walks in on the treadmill. I think adding that movement in with these workouts I've been doing will be really beneficial. For now, I'll enjoy that tomorrow is a rest day then it's will be game on! 

23 more to go...

Day 6...

Wow, Friday already! This week went by pretty fast. Leading into the weekend I was worried that my strength would start to weaken - meaning that I'd be looking forward to some end of week wine and a fun dinner (usually we did pizza night on Fridays) but happily I'm still loving this new eating regiment and the not drinking has felt really good. So onward to the weekend!

Breakfast - slice of my new frittata - loving the new flavors with the brussel sprouts and mushrooms. I think my next one will need some asparagus and maybe green peppers - half an avocado, black coffee and to change it up a bit a half of a grapefruit. I haven't had a grapefruit in so long - I forgot how much I love them. So juicy and sweet - a much needed touch of sweetness I might add.

Lunch - leftover spaghetti pie. I can't even stop eating this thing - it's too good.

Dinner - cauliflower soup, grilled chicken and sweet potato fries. The cauliflower soup came from a fellow challenger, I believe in the "Well Fed" cookbook (just ordered a copy of that for myself). Essentially you cook up cauliflower, carrots, onion and garlic until nice in tender in some water and beef stock (used some more of the homemade stock I had in preparation for the challenge) then you puree all of that and then add in a half can of coconut milk and seasonings. I used some nutmeg, cayenne pepper, ginger and black pepper. We garnished with some compliant bacon and red onions. This was so good. Definitely will make again, maybe with chicken stock instead so it doesn't turn so brownish.

Cocktail - I took the other half of my grapefruit and sliced it up and used that to jazz up my sparkling water. Looked fancy and tasted great!

Workout - I did two 21-15-9's. First set 21 jump squats, 21 air squats, 21 tricep kick-backs - then 15, then 9. For round two I did 21 sit ups, 21 elbow to knee crunches and 21 v-ups with weights - then 15, then 9. 

24 more to go...

Day 5...

Prep work seems to be the name of the game so with some pre-cooking of a spaghetti squash on Day 4 I knew our dinner for Day 5 was already halfway complete. That was a good feeling and we'll continue to work to keep in mind what we can do ahead of time to make meal prep that much easier. I have a feeling where people might find some pitfalls in their Whole30 would be in the lack of convenience. At the end of a long day it used to be easy to just call out for sushi, throw in a microwaveable bag of rice to go along with some chicken, etc. etc. Those aren't options here so I figure my best bet is to stay ahead of the game, have quick snacks and appetizers on hand so there's never a chance to feel like cheating. 

Breakfast - I enjoyed the last slice of frittata, half an avocado, and black coffee. I am not yet tired of frittata and actually made a plan in my head to whip up another one, this time with mushrooms, brussel sprouts, onions, zucchini and a little prosciutto. 

Lunch - Pretty much a repeat of yesterday's salad - spinach & arugula mix topped with a hard boiled egg, shaved sweet potatoes, two chopped dates, half an avocado, slivered almonds, and a squeeze of lemon with some garlic olive oil and a little balsamic on top. I made a mental note to roast some beets and eggplant to jazz up salads for the next few days. 

Appetizer - Andy had said he was hungry when he came home from work so I decided to make a little snack - sliced cucumbers topped with a little of the garlic aioli, smoked salmon, and capers. Light, refreshing, satisfying, and compliant. Score! 

Dinner - Spaghetti Pie! Woah, this was insanely good! We've definitely had spaghetti squash before, even during this challenge, but I've never used it in place of actual pasta and I was so surprised at how it really did feel/taste like we were having a normal spaghetti dinner. Wow. This recipe is a keeper. Here's the one we used. I altered it a bit by using ground turkey and we added mushrooms. I could see lots of variations - maybe even doing a "pasta primevera" version when the temps warm up a bit. 

Workout - I did a 50-40-30-20-10. This was intense. 50 air squats - 1 minute of jumping jacks - 40 sit ups - 1 minute high knees - 30 push-ups - 1 minute of jumping jacks - 20 lunges (on each side so 40 total) - 1 minute high knees - 10 burpees. Woah. It was all I could do to get through those 10 burpees. Ugh. 

25 more to go...

Homemade Condiments...

As I've mentioned before, we are a family of dippers - I'll admit sometimes french fries really just seem like an excuse to have ketchup and don't even get me started on my husband and son's obsession with ranch dressing. So I knew this would be a tricky part of this Whole30 challenge. Alas, I'm not the only one who enjoys these things and thus recipes for compliant ketchup, cocktail sauce, ranch dressing, mayo, aiolis of all shapes and sizes are readily available. For burger night we whipped up some homemade ketchup and my father-in-law's infamous garlic aioli - which happily was already compliant! 

First up - Ketchup. I used a recipe from "The Clothes Make the Girl" - see here. I had to use dates as I didn't have figs on hand, and since I didn't have ground cloves I used pumpkin pie spice instead - next time I think I'll go for less of the cinnamon/nutmeg/clove flavor and maybe do more of the mustard and perhaps ginger. Still, it was pretty good. 

Next we tackled Poppy's Garlic Aioli. So good, pretty easy to make, and oh my I can still taste the garlic, but that's ok. 

Here's the recipe:

• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 egg yoke
• 1/2 lemon 
• 8-9 garlic cloves (yup, told ya it was garlicky!) 
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients, minus the oil, in a blender until combined. Then very very slowly dribble in the oil until it is all combined. Tip - make sure your ingredients are all at room temperature - especially the egg. 

I read a tip on one site that for these sauces/condiments with raw egg to just look at the expiration date on the egg carton and use that as your guide for when you should finish or toss your sauce. I don't see ours making it to the expiration date. :) 

Next on the to-do list - Ranch Dressing!