#Whole30: Day 9

So, it's day 9 of this adventure and, honestly, I'm having trouble keeping track of what day it is (which, from my viewpoint, is a good sign!). I have returned to work (for those of you who don't know, I'm a teacher by trade) and am really enjoying spending time back at school with my colleagues-- this week has practically flown by! Being back among civilization, I've found that many people have one simple question about this Whole 30 thing: WHY?

I am, of course, happy to answer and interested to hear their opinions on this subject, but I often find myself struggling to find the perfect answer that truly encapsulates *why* I chose this challenge. They often follow up "why" with some concerns which are totally legitimate, and some statements that I totally agree with, but there's still a little place in my heart that is happy I decided to try this out. These concerns might include:

1) I could never give up _______. I am literally the most undisciplined person you'll ever meet, especially when I have to believe that pesticides, chemicals, and processed foods that are otherwise perfectly delicious are harming my body. It is honestly some kind of miracle that I'm doing this-- and I think most of it has to do with making it public so you all can judge me if I quit, haha. But seriously though, my husband is supportive, my friends are kind, and you guys all help me stay focused. Yes, it sucks to give up all of my favorite foods-- the favorites among those whom I've spoken with are cheese, beer, chocolate, bread, etc. Yes, I love all of those things too (except beer, but replace that with wine), and it is totally hard, but it's gotten way easier (today I might even say it was easy watching my friends eat pizza (my other lover)-- I was actually fine!). My mind doesn't really reach for those things right now. It is true, however, that I'm pretty sure I'm developing new vices, like kombucha and almond butter.

2) Aren't you hungry all the time? Sometimes, if I've neglected to prepare food for myself-- but that's my own fault! Once you get into a groove, it gets easy, and you eat when you're hungry, and it's great! If you choose to do this, and want to not be hungry all the time, you have to do some cooking, plain and simple. Prior to this, I actually HATED cooking-- mostly because I'm not good at following directions, am impatient, and am a creature of convenience. But you can make some amazing stuff that non-paleo people would love. In fact, I'm almost sorry that this whole experience is considered so weird, because it's a perfectly normal, viable, satiating way of eating, it just takes a little bit of effort!  For example: I'm making turkey meatballs tonight. I'm using turkey, and egg, and some spices. Who wouldn't like little toasted balls of turkey meat covered in tomato sauce?!

3) The rules, MY GOD, the rules! I'm not going to lie to you I've broken some rules. YES. I said it. I'm sorry. I'll collect my things and go. But I'm not going to start back and day 1 because I have to do this my way to survive, and I'm cool with that.
Where I have deviated: 1) I eat ketchup with my meals sometimes, and ketchup has added sugar. #yolo, frankly, and 2) this doesn't matter to me as much, only if it helps my performance, but for my tri I had to get weighed, and have weighed myself since-- and I've lost 3 lbs since Day 1. Between this and physical therapy and having some rest after the tri and getting my hair done at Blown Away (awesome new salon in KSQ, check it out!), I feel like a million bucks!!

4) So, um... what's day 31 going to be like? I honestly don't know right now. Do I want to return to Limoncello and eat all the things? Yes. Do I want to eat some cake? Of course. Diet Coke? Eh.... might be able to live without that one. So there's THAT! When Day 30 Eve hits, I will be at my best friend's rehearsal dinner. My friend, Jen, pointed out that maybe I shouldn't go hard core on the pasta, bread, and wine because my stomach won't be ready for it, and that is a TOTALLY good point that I hadn't thought of. There is also the possibility that I won't even be interested in those things (realistically, though... I'm sure I will be), so I will have to make sure I make smart yet delicious choices then. So how to rectify all of this? I'm just glad I have 21 more days to figure that out.

5) What the hell is kombucha? Check it out.

Let me know if you have other questions, I'm happy to answer! Shout out out to all my friends that are doing this too-- let's stay in touch and keep each other motivated! Kim and Heidi-- we're owning this! Lisa and Margie I know you guys were starting up too, so good luck! I bought a new cookbook and am making a recipe from it right now-- will let you guys know how it turns out tomorrow!

Breakfast: Banana + almond butter
Snack: Naked drink
Lunch: Salad w/ balsamic
Snack: almonds + banana
Dinner: Turkey Meatballs + sauteed trumpet mushrooms + Kombucha

#Whole30: Day 4

So, after throwing a tantrum yesterday and having so many regrets about embarking on this Whole 30 endeavor, today was a completely different day, and I am SO GLAD I am doing this! I think I got past the "feeling hungover/wanting to kill everyone/wishing I had all my old foods back" phase with a good night's sleep and a fresh start. NOTE: But seriously, if you embark on this challenge, know that those phases are REAL, and they're scary, and be prepared to hang on.

Today was a day full of rearranging things mentally and in my house, cleaning, gratefulness, fresh fruit AND vegetables, open water swimming, time with my dog, and other sundry end-of-summer goodness-related things.

Physically, I was feeling very good, not weird at all. I did not feel tired but my muscles were a little fatigued during the brief swim at the tri clinic, but I know that was because of a lack of hydration, so am regulating that currently. I have adopted coconut milk (thank you, Amy!) and a heftier load of vegetables (thanks, Rachel et. al!), and everything was delicious today! When I was hungry, I was armed and ready to go, and I didn't feel daunted by the idea of having to cook for myself today (maybe because a lot of it was leftovers, hehe).

After thinking long and hard about what exactly my issues with vegetables are, I realized it comes down to being lazy. Just thinking about having to wash them, cut them, ....season them..., ugh-- tired already. :) But we shall overcome! It's going to be part of my mission-- along with picking up my clothes, not leaving laundry in the was-- damn. Okay, starting tomorrow!

On a more philosophical note...

As I continue to learn more about myself, my fitness, and my strengths and weaknesses as a human being, I am finding it more and more important to think at things from all directions. Mindset is SUCH a huge deal; when I think of my role as a teacher, coach, aspiring personal training, and even just as a wife/daughter/friend/coworker-- if I'm going to endeavor to preach such lofty and wondrous values (hard work, "hold the vision; trust the process," do your best, etc.), I sure as hell better be able to stick to them, myself!

SIDENOTE: THANK YOU for those of you who are willing to comment with advice/support, or even share a "like"-- I often feel like a total fool/attention hogger (another problem for another day) posting all of this out there, but I LOVE when people do things I'm mildly interested in so I can see if I could envision myself doing them also (that's how I got into triathlon AND Crossfit), or just catch up with them and pseudo-get-to-know them, even if it's through the superficial vehicle we all hate to love and love to hate: social media).

For now, it's time to focus on triathlon. I am headed down to North East, MD tomorrow for my first ever triathlon that I've been training for since I returned home from Germany earlier in the summer. I am looking forward to swimming, biking, and running in the great outdoors tomorrow morning and hope everything goes according to plan. Going to get get my stuff ready for T1 and T2!

Hope you guys enjoy your Sunday and do something you love!!

Breakfast: Banana + Almond Butter + Kombucha
Lunch: Green Smoothie (Spinach/Kale + H20 + Coconut Milk + Strawberries + Blueberries + Greens Powder + Hemp Protein)
Dinner: Leftovers (Grass Fed Beef + roasted baby potatoes) + green/purple/white asparagus

EDIT:  Kombucha is a fermented beverage that contains some version of fruit juice or fruit puree (or tea, but I don't drink those) in tandem with a live, probiotic culture (you can actually see it floating on the bottom). It has naturally occurring aminos, acids, electrolytes, enzymes and polyphenols (will admit right now I don't know what the last one is haha). I had a borderline severe addiction to Diet Coke prior to starting this challenge (because I like it's delicate fizziness coupled with a sweet sensation), and this drink is naturally fizzy due to the fermentation process. If you leave it too long, it actually becomes alcoholic! The ones I like contain between 60-80 calories per 16 oz. bottle, and between 8-14g of naturally occurring sugar from the 100% fruit juice (no cane sugar or anything extra in the brand I like). You can find them at the grocery store in the Hipster section. This is the brand I like: http://synergydrinks.com/index.php/products#classic-synergy/classic-synergy-trilogy
I recommend Trilogy or Cosmic Cranberry!

#Whole30: Day 1

So, I'm not going to lie to you. I woke up and immediately panicked. No diet snapple? No Cape May fudge? No fluffy Wawa hoagie? Man, I eat worse than I thought I do. But that is EXACTLY why I decided to do this.

It's not a fad diet, it's not some crazy scheme into shocking my body into weight loss (#tbh I don't even care if I lose weight on this), but simply to make me painfully aware of WHAT I am putting in my body.

No, I am not happy that I can't eat the fun, happy things I like. Yes, I am going to deeply miss sitting in Philter eating my egg and cheese sandwich and drinking a skinny mocha latte.

What I learned on my first day:

• There are a lot of crazies out there on Whole 30 message boards telling you what you can't have because you minced it the wrong way or put it in a blender or because it's not the correct vehicle to accept nutrients. Um... so here's the deal. If I can consume two cups of spinach, fruits, algae, natural protein and almond butter in one sitting by blending it in a cup, I'm gonna do it, because these are WHOLE FOODS. Blended. Bottom line you do you. If you're not exactly doing the Whole 30 based on the website rules, if you want to do Whole 30 + beer, WHO CARES? You do you-- because at least we're taking steps in the right direction to be aware of our eating, and we are hands-down healthier!
• You will have serious regrets. You will want a granola bar. You will want a few spoonfuls of frozen yogurt. You will want your diet tea/soda/coffee with cream. Push through, we only have 29 days left and WE CAN DO THIS. 
• Be prepared to get hangry and prepare your loved ones for the same. Yikes.

Breakfast:     Hardboiled eggs (2) + watermelon

Lunch:     Naked green machine (highly contested, but I'm going to OK it for myself in emergency situations like road trips) + Raw Almonds

Dinner:     Stuffed Portabella Mushrroms (Sautee minced garlic and handful of chopped onions, brown 1 lb. ground turkey,  add 1 cup chopped various peppers -- add this mixture to cleaned, de-gilled portabella caps that are lightly coated in olive oil, spoon a few spoonfuls of natural, organic tomato sauce over top, and bake at 400 for 12 minutes)

Full Disclosure: THIS IS NOT ENOUGH FOOD FOR ME #OMG. But I went grocery shopping, so hopefully tomorrow will be better. :) Need more meat and protein, especially with triathlon coming up this weekend.

How are you doing? What did you have to eat for today? Please feel free to share any recipes!! I am not good at cooking and need as much help as I can get. :(