Whole30 Week 2

I've made it 11 days so far!!  The timeline I attached to my previous post on my Whole30 Challenge: Wholly What Challenge??, is pretty much spot on!!  I felt the withdrawal symptoms during the first week.  Literally, if you did not have coffee in your hand and weren't giving it to me; I wanted to punch you in the FACE!  I can't believe how addicted to sugars and processed foods I am.  Then, after I made it through that hot mess; I was EXHAUSTED!  I'm not sure if that was from the change or if it was from not getting sleep during the 36 hours of Ragnar (either way it was TOTALLY worth it).  I slept 12 hours on Sunday night.  Yesterday, I finally made it past the exhaustion and now I feel like an energizer bunny!

I got SO much done yesterday including a schedule for my semester.  I scheduled in my work schedule, school/studying schedule, and workout schedule.  I even made sure to write-in "going out" time and nap time!

I did CrossFit in the morning, biked to and from class, and took a Pilates Reformer class.  I've been teaching it recently, but haven't taken it and it was an amazing feeling to remember why I love it so much and why I love teaching it.  Today I biked to and from class, did CrossFit, and plan to bike to and from class again!  Usually in the morning I never WANT to workout, but I pull my a$$ out of bed and do it and about 5 minutes into it I NEVER regret going.  

I'm not only gaining more energy, but I feel SOO much better.  I feel "clean", my face has started clearing up, and my running has improved.  I usually have TERRIBLE intestinal/bowel issues when I run over 5 miles and during Ragnar two of my three runs were over 5.  I was very nervous going in because there were no porto-johns on the course, but to my surprise I didn't have ANY issues.  My stomach never hurt and never had to rush to the nearest bush or anything that resembled a bathroom.  After 4 years of having these issues while training for endurance events it feels great to finally feel "normal" and not worry about using the bathroom during a run.  

Also, this challenge has made me get creative with food and I actually enjoy making up recipes or tweeking recipes I find, especially on Pinterest, to make them Whole30 approved.  Here are some recipes/ dishes I have done so far (I know I need more pictures)...

squash, cucumber, peppers, small amount of sweet potatoes and chicken

Sweet Potato Skillet and Kale on the side

I'm also in the process of making squash chips (the timer actually just dinged).  In my slow cooker is chicken cooking in tomatoes, cilantro, and hot peppers.  I'll make sure to take pictures of these!  I discovered an AMAZING app on the IPhone called, myKitchen.  It's a database of paleo recipes for everything from meat to desserts!!  I haven't made anything from it yet, but I plan to make "Paleo Tacos" this week!  Another great resource has been Pinterest.  I have searched for paleo recipes, Whole30 recipes, and then just found other delicious recipes that I plan to make paleo by exchanging ingredients or just taking out ingredients. I'll be sure to post these as well!

I recently found at the grocery store homemade trail mix.  It's made by a farm somewhere in Lincoln, NE!!  It has no sugars (other than what's in the fruit naturally) and no salts.  It has raisins, bananas, apricots, pineapple, dates, walnuts, almonds, and coconut shavings.  This definitely helped me during the first week when I was having those awful withdrawals.  The coconut shavings helped SOO much.  Just gnawing on a few of those when I got a craving and they were gone within seconds.  

Num Num..I'd eat this screen if I could!

I'm really enjoying this experience and finally getting why putting natural food (meat, nuts, eggs, vegetables, and fruit) is the only way to go!  Almost two weeks down and two more to go :)

Well, I'm going to get back to my documentary, "The Loving Story" about a couple that is a "mixed" couple and were arrested for being married!!  Another reason as to why I'm so glad I grew up in this age.  I can't believe people really thought "mixing" was bad for the races (boggles my mind)?!?  

Week 1 Look Back & Week 2

Week 1...CHECK!!

Okay, so far so good.  I made it through the first week of my New Year's Resolution.  I ate clean, I drank AT LEAST 64oz of water per day (not counting what I drank during cardio or lifting) and drank green tea every day.  Below is a picture of all my meals during the day. By preparing all my food before I left for the day I never had to worry about being hungry and binging on some fast food or junk food crap.

It took a little bit of time each morning, but I truly believe that this is the reasoning behind my success for clean eating.  When I get hungry I get angry and fussy and so I'll eat whatever I can find, so instead of grabbing for chips and salsa or going to Jimmy John's I had a small protein bar or chicken and veggies.  I think the water made a big difference too.  By adding more water into my diet my stomach was tricked into being full, so I wasn't mindlessly eating.  

After a great first week I can't stop now!  This next week is going to really be a struggle because I start back with classes, will be working both jobs, and still have to fit time in to exercise.  I'm going to really have to push myself to wake up early to plan out my meals, exercise early, and keep pushing myself through.  So that I do not over do it this first week back to reality I am going to keep drinking 64oz of water daily, tea daily, and I'm going to start tracking my workouts and what I eat every day.  Since I want to be healthier physically I have to push myself past limits I've never seen.  In order to go past limits you have to know where you've been.  So how do I push myself in lifts or interval sprints if I didn't know how much I benched or how fast I ran for how long the week before?  I'm not going to use any fancy fitness journals..I'm just going to use a good, old-fashioned college-ruled notebook.  I will write down what I ate, how much I ate, the calories, how long I ran or biked, and how much I lifted each day. I know it will be time consuming and may annoy me, but I know in the long run it will lead to a healthier, stronger future!  

So here's to week 2 and staying strong!

Til next week and another step closer to a hardbody,

Mo