Back to Paleo

After about a 1 1/2 week hiatus, I'm back! I've been eating more meals than not in accordance with Whole30 guidelines but I've definitely had a few cheats in there, especially this past weekend. I'm very happy to get back to clean eating, I've definitely felt a lot more bloated over the past few days and my stomach has been pretty rumbly. I think the bloated feeling has been worse because I haven't been able to workout since last Sunday. I have lower back issues and I got tired and careless with my form on my burpees and ended up straining my lower back to the point that I couldn't stand up straight without being in pain until this past Saturday. I had 3 chiropractor appointments in the past week and that helped so much.  I finally went back today and took it very easy, but it felt so good to be back at the gym!

Breakfast (6:30am):  Breakfast casserole, 1/4 avocado, 1 slice tomato

Breakfast Comments: I'm back to the breakfast casserole after taking a couple weeks off. This time I made the sausage using the spices from the PaleOMG Breakfast Patty recipe and I'm definitely liking the added flavor.

Lunch (11:15am): 5 oz. Applegate Farms Oven Roasted Turkey, red lettuce leaves, 1/4 avocado, tomato slice, Well Fed mayo, spicy brown mustard, ~1 cup blueberries.

Lunch Comments: Back to my staples. I got these blueberries in my Irv & Shelly's delivery last Thursday and they were so good! Haven't had blueberries in awhile.

Snack (5:15pm):  Paleokit...I had to rush to the gym so I grabbed a quick snack before leaving the house.

Dinner:  Bacon braised fennel and brussels sprouts, burger with jalapeños and Well Fed mayo and homemade ketchup on top. Salad with tomato and Well Fed sweet honey dressing.

Dinner Comments: Not the prettiest meal but it was pretty good. This is my absolute favorite way to make brussels sprouts, hands down.

Sleep: 6.5 hrs last night. Stayed up a little later than I should have last night!
Exercise:  Back to CrossFit after 7 days. I found my 1 RM for a press-80lbs. Today was The Bear-a super tough workout but I was able to scale it back and take my time getting back into it. I think it was the perfect workout for me to come back to, just working with minimal weight and getting my movements back was super helpful.

Whole30-Day 25

I have a confession to make. I knew this about a week ago, but Wednesday was my last official consecutive day of Whole 30. I basically did a Whole 24 1/2. Last night (Thursday) I had friends coming into town and along with them, Mike, and my mom we went out to eat and we went to see The Book of Mormon. At first I thought I would just stick with my W30, but then I found out we have a CF mixer on Saturday. Sure, I could've kept with it, it was only a few more days, but I really felt like I had gotten what I set out to achieve with the challenge and I wanted to celebrate being done with my on-ramp and seeing old friends-and making new ones!

I plan on eating W30 compliant as much as I possibly can, with my wedding coming up in June I need to keep it together! But, if something comes up every now and then and I eat a few non-compliant things, I'm not going to stress about it. I'm sure there will be many W30s in my future (maybe someday I'll make the whole 30 days ;) ). I gained insight into my eating habits and learned a ton. I learned how to correctly portion meals so I'm satisfied and don't have the need to snack throughout the day. I learned how crappy and bloated I felt before the W30 but I didn't really notice it because it was just normal to me. I felt energetic and for once in control of my eating and appetite. I found new recipes that I love and I got back to cooking a lot more. It was awesome and I'm glad I have this record to come back to. I plan on continuing to post my meals as much as possible, obviously not all will be W30 but keeping a log has been fun and I want to try and keep it going.



Breakfast (8:15am): 3 eggs scrambled with ghee and Practical Paleo pesto, broccoli.

Breakfast Comments: Quite the green breakfast day today. I'm running low on food, guess I didn't prep quite enough last weekend, so I'm clearing out my fridge for the week.

Lunch (12pm): Whole Foods salad bar-Romaine, shredded chicken, a variety of veggies, walnuts, and Well Fed Creamy Italian. Blood orange and grapefruit La Croix.

Lunch Comments: So I kind of ran short on food this week so today it was salad bar for me. This was a nice big filling salad w/ my fav-a blood orange-to finish it off!

Dinner (5:30pm):  Dinner at Chicago q. My first non-W30 meal after 24 days.  A champagne cocktail with blood orange juice and pomegranate. Sliced brisket was my main and I had a few bites of sides-bread & butter pickles, homemade potato chips, corn bread, a few bites of Mike's kobe ribs and mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts.  Followed with a few bites of a couple desserts-carrot cake and homemade brittle covered espresso ice cream.  


Sleep:  6.5 hrs
Exercise:  None

Whole30-Day 24

Breakfast (6:30am):  3 eggs scrambled in ghee with Practical Paleo pesto, grape tomatoes, beets roasted in coconut oil.

Breakfast Comments:  I didn't finish all the beets pictured because they tasted a little weird, like they got burnt in the microwave or something.  I'm not sure, I still made it until 11:30a for lunch.

Lunch (11:30am):  4 oz. Applegate Farms turkey from deli counter on red leaf lettuce with Well Fed Mayo, spicy brown mustard, and grape tomatoes.  Celery with Well Fed Creamy Italian dressing.  Kiwi.

Lunch Comments:  Same as yesterday.

Snack (2:45pm):  About 10 unsalted almonds, small handful of diced dried plums.  I had the exact same thing for lunch yesterday but for some reason I got hungry today in between meals.  Not sure what's up with that so I just had a small snack and it helped keep me satisfied until I got home for dinner.

Dinner (5:30pm):  Practical Paleo stuffed pepper, broccoli, Well Fed Caramelized Coconut Chips.

Dinner Comments:  Leftovers, lovin' it.

Sleep:  7 hours
Exercise:  Last day of our CrossFit onramp!  I was nervous all day about repeating our very first workout.  My body has not been cooperating with me over the last several days and I was seriously worried I would get a worse time...and that would be pretty embarrassing.  Well, 3 weeks ago I did the WOD in 7:30 and today-6:24!  I feel like I could've done even better but I was still happy that I improved.  Now...onto the real deal.  Main objective-learn how to engage my glutes and hamstrings for squats rather than my quads!

Whole30-Day 23

Breakfast (6:30am):  PaleOMG Sweet Potato and Apple Breakfast Patty, 1 eggs scrambled in ghee and Practical Paleo pesto, grape tomatoes, beets roasted in coconut oil.

Breakfast Comments:  The last of the breakfast patties :(  I'll definitely be making more this weekend!

Lunch (11:15am):  4 oz. Applegate Farms turkey from deli counter on red leaf lettuce with Well Fed Mayo, spicy brown mustard, and grape tomatoes.  Celery with Well Fed Creamy Italian dressing.  Kiwi.

Lunch Comments:  Back to my turkey lettuce wraps, great lunch!

Dinner:  Practical Paleo stuffed pepper, red leaf lettuce with grape tomatoes and Well Fed Creamy Italian, Well Fed Caramelized Coconut Chips.

Dinner Comments:  The pepper wasn't too deep so I couldn't fit a whole 4 oz. in the pepper, so I just ate it on the side.  Another really good Practical Paleo recipe (but not better than the bolognese!) 

Sleep:  6.5hrs-and I slept on my back almost the entire night!
Exercise:  Stretching, lots of stretching.  I tried to get up and walk around and stretch during the day at work.  We'll see if it helps if I can keep it up.  I also ordered some resistance bands today to work on strengthening my glutes.

Whole30-Day 22

I'm coming off a super productive weekend and feeling really good about it.  I found some new recipes that I'm loving and ordered a few Paleo products/cooking utensils I've had my eye on:  W30-compliant bacon from US Wellness Meats, Mee Nut Butter (a nut butter created by a CrossFitter in CA), and THIS super awesome vegetable spiralizer that I've wanted FOREVER and just never bought.  Yes, I'm a huge nerd.    


Breakfast (6:30am):  1 PaleOMG Sweet Potato and Apple Breakfast Patty, 1 egg fried in ghee, beets roasted in coconut oil.

Breakfast Comments:  I'm so sad I only have 1 breakfast patty left!  Definitely making more of these ASAP!  Also...love me some roasted beets!

Lunch (11:30am):  The last of my Practical Paleo Spaghetti Squash Bolognese; salad with grape tomatoes, 1 hard boiled egg, and Well Fed Creamy Italian; orange.

Lunch Comments:  I was so sad this was the last of the bolognese!  I added in the egg for a little more protein since this wasn't a full portion of the bolognese. 

Dinner:  Wild salmon filet that I accidentally overcooked in the broiler, asparagus, small piece of sweet potato, Well Fed Caramelized Coconut chips.

Dinner Comments:  I guess I don't really have any comments about dinner...nothing very special about plain old salmon and asparagus.

Sleep:  6.5hrs....just couldn't fall asleep right away last night, too much running through my mind.

Exercise:  2nd to last day of our on-ramp and today I felt like I was suckier than on day 1.  We did a 10 minute AMRAP of 10 hang power cleans and 10 barbell burpees.  I did 3+4.  I know it's because of my mobility issues and I've been icing and rolling and stretching like crazy but I just can't get over over the hump of tightness in my hips and lower back and I'm frustrated.  I have a very strong feeling that a lot of it stems from my psoas and sitting all day at work so I've consulted the great google doctor and found some things to work on, starting tonight....no more sleeping on the stomach for me.  Maybe I should just go back to working in the pharmacy and standing all day...

Whole30-Day 21

Breakfast (8:45am):  1 egg fried in ghee, 1 PaleOMG Sweet Potato and Apple Breakfast Patty, raw carrots, Well Fed Caramelized Coconut Chips.

Breakfast Comments:  I've been having a really great recipe weekend because these breakfast patties are the best breakfast patties I've EVER had!  Seems like a theme, right?!  Again I was nervous because  the recipe called for a ton of spices and I thought it would be too much...but they ended up perfect!  I didn't eat the kale chips pictured because I was pretty full (I had a lot more carrots than I expected).

Lunch (2pm):  Last of the coconut crusted chicken, still a little pineapple salsa left.  Red leaf lettuce, little less than 1/4 avocado, Well Fed Creamy Italian.

Lunch Comments:  The one thing that still surprises me every single day is how I don't feel like I need snacks anymore.  I was a HUGE snacker/grazer and now my meals hold me over for 5+ hours most of the time.  I love it!

Dinner (6:15pm):  Practical Paleo Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

Dinner Comments:  Just as delicious as yesterday!  I want more!  When I eat this I seriously can't believe it's good for me.

Sleep:  9 hours
Exercise:  15 min "WOD" in my living room (15 squats, 15 push-ups, 20 abmat sit-ups) followed by a 45 minute dance session to a super awesome playlist I made this morning after watching Pitch Perfect.  Yes, I am freely admitting all of these things because who doesn't love dancing around their living room with nobody watching from time to time?!  (This is what happens when Mike is out of town for the weekend...)

Whole30-Day 20

Breakfast (9am):  3 eggs scrambled with Practical Paleo pesto, topped with grape tomatoes.  Steamed broccoli, raw carrots.

Breakfast Comments:  With the breakfast casserole gone it was time to change up my breakfasts.  This pesto is made with olive oil and macadamia nuts and I scrambled the eggs in a little ghee so my fat is covered.  Super tasty, the tomatoes were the perfect addition!

Lunch (2:30pm):  Yesterday's coconut chicken and pineapple salsa leftovers.  Red leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, Well Fed Creamy Italian made with pomegranate balsamic vinegar.   Small handful of Well Fed Caramelized Coconut Chips (not pictured).

Lunch Comments:  I had just got home from CF and started digging in before I snapped a pic!  The coconut is obviously much better crispy straight out of the oven but once you throw on some pineapple salsa it doesn't really matter!

Dinner:  Practical Paleo Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

Dinner Comments: O-M-G...this is the best "spaghetti" sauce I've ever made, paleo or non-paleo!  I was a little nervous when I was making it...the recipe calls for, among other things, carrots, celery, and coconut milk with tomato paste as the only tomato source...so I wasn't so sure.  The recipe also calls for bacon, which I didn't use because I didn't have any W30 compliant bacon.  It didn't matter, I wanted to just eat this sauce straight out of the bowl!  I can't wait to make this for Mike, I'm pretty sure he's going to love it too!

Sleep:  9 hours
Exercise:  We did an endurance workout today.  Teams of 3 and 1 person did a 250m row while another person did as many burpees as possible until person 1 is finished rowing.  The 3rd person is counting burpees and getting a rest.  15 minutes.  It was tough, but I liked it.  Back to stretching and using the foam roller tonight.