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...