Half-way Update

It’s Day 16 and we are half way through Whole 30! As easy as day 1-10 was this time around, days 11-15 made up for it. OH MAN! The cravings! THE. CRAVINGS. I just spent the last 5 days dreaming about beer and chocolate… and oddly honey. Today I am back to feeling like a normal, sane person again! I’ve got some Creamy Paleo Red Shrimp and Tomato Curry in the Crockpot for tonight’s dinner. And I have been thoroughly enjoying my decaf coffee without the gnarly side-effects of too much caffeine!

It Gets Hard Sometimes: A note on stress, weight, and decaf coffee

Last night was the closest I have been to breaking down and intentionally cheating on Whole30. I didn’t do it. BUT it was the closest I have been to throwing in the towel in either of my Whole30 Challenges. I had a particularly annoying and stressful shift at work. I was dealing with a lot of drunk people. I really wanted a shot and a beer! I mean REALLY wanted a shot (or two…. of tequila) and a beer. To be honest, I probably would have dishonored my commitment to myself and maybe even my commitment to my gym (and all of my fellow crossfitters who are doing Whole30 this month as well), but it was my commitment to my partner, Bob that really kept me from giving up. I have too much respect for him and his effort in this with me to just give up. I knew I just had to get through 8 hours of social irritation. I knew that if I had cheated I would have woken up this morning really disappointed in myself.

Besides being under some stress, there may have been another factor involved for me to even consider the option of cheating, which in Whole30 is NOT AN OPTION. I know you are not supposed to, but I weighed myself yesterday morning. It had been 10 days, I was feeling a lot less bloated and confident in my food choices this time around. To my surprise and dismay, I hadn’t lost any weight. This bothered me. I have been working so hard and have been so strict. To be perfectly honest I was bummed out yesterday. I think this played a vital role in my mood and in my consideration of just throwing in the towel! I was justifying cheating by telling myself “well it isn’t working , anyway, so I might as well.” My advice to you, is to not weigh yourself during the 30 days (only before and after), like you are supposed to. Just because I haven’t lost weight in 10 days doesn’t mean “it’s not working” and it doesn’t mean I won’t lose weight. The point of Whole30 is not to lose a bunch of weight (even if that may be one of the outcomes). It’s very easy to get obsessed with the number on the scale, instead of paying attention to eating well (not light) and to more accurate indications of health, such as how you are feeling after you eat, how much energy you have throughout the day, and how your skin looks. I have made this fatal mistake and strongly urge you to refrain and not do the same.

On a positive note, I found some decaf French roast coffee at Trader Joe’s that uses pure glacial water to decaffeinate instead of a chemical solvent! Most decaffeinated coffees use a chemical solvent to extract the caffeine. It is very unlikely that there won’t be chemical residue in your decaf coffee if this kind of process is used. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, but love your coffee, like I do, find a decaf coffee that uses water as a solvent. If the packaging doesn’t say how the beans are extracted of their caffeine then assume chemicals are involved.

Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato

Well, it’s day 11 and we are one third of the way done!

Roasted Sweet Potato

What you need:

1.5 Large sweet potato, cubed (I prefer keeping the skin on)

Olive oil

Rosemary

Pepper

Salt

½ cup beef (or chicken) broth

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

What to Do:

1.)    In medium sized mixing bowl combine cubed sweet potato, generous amounts of olive oil, rosemary, pepper and salt

2.)    Bake at 425 degrees

3.)    After 15 minutes, add broth

4.)    After 15 more minutes, add lemon juice

5.)    Cook for 15 more minutes or until the edges are crispy and browned

Recipe: Oven-Roasted Leg of Lamb

Lamb is my favorite meat, so I thought I would try cooking it for the first time. We had it for dinner last night. Along with a small starter salad, roasted rosemary sweet potatoes and a home-made tahini and roasted garlic spread to go with the meat and potatoes. I will share the recipe for the sweet potatoes soon. I made the spread based off of a recipe in Practical Paleo. I found it to be too bitter and probably wont make it again.

 Last night's dinner

What you will need:

1.5-2lbs leg of lamb

4 Tablespoons coconut oil (softened, but not melted)

Zest of one lemon

4 minced garlic cloves

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon rosemary

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.)    In small bowl, combine all of the above ingredients, besides the lamb.

 This is how much lemon zest I used

2.)    Apply seasoning herb paste on every part of the lamb.

3.)    Set the leg of lamb on a rack, fat side up, with a pan under it to catch the drippings.

4.)    Cook the lamb on 450 degrees in the oven for 10 minutes.

5.)    Cover the leg of lamb with foil and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Cook for 50 more minutes for rare to medium rare. You will need to check the meat’s temperature with a meat thermometer. The temperature of your meat will depend on it’s size and your oven. You want your lamb to be at about 135- 140 degrees for medium-rare.

6.)    When the meat has reached desired temperature, take it out of the oven and keep it covered with foil for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Day 4 Update

It’s near the end of day four and I was just going to give a little update. I feel like this round of Whole30 is going a little smoother for me. I haven’t experienced any headache or severe fatigue or just general hatred for everything and anything like I had at this point in Whole30 last time. I am not exactly sure why I haven’t been experiencing carb withdrawal symptoms considering the amounts of chocolate and adult beverages I was consuming almost daily leading up to day 1 of our Whole30. It has probably helped that I have been keeping myself very distracted.

On Friday night (Day 2) Bob and I went to a concert and then yesterday (Day 3) we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We ate a pretty substantial protein and fat packed breakfast before heading up to Magic Mountain. We brought some carrots, nuts, and oranges with us, intending on snacking throughout the day. We hardly broke into the nuts and carrots and didn’t get to the oranges. We were pretty distracted by all the fun! By the time the park closed at 6pm we were pretty hungry.  We ate dinner at a nearby Souplantation. Souplantation is one of the very few restaurants I would feel comfortable eating at during Whole30. For those of you who are unfamiliar, it’s basically a salad bar. They have a bunch of other soups, breads, fruits, and desserts as well, but we just stuck with the salad bar obviously. I filled one plate with lettuce and raw vegetables and dressed it with olive oil and vinegar. I filled another plate with boiled egg and tomatoes -- topped with black pepper and vinegar. If you can come up with some plans at the beginning of your Whole30 that are fun and stress-free to keep you happily busy, it may distract you from the initial ickiness and carb-withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, Bob hasn’t had as smooth of a time as I have thus far. He’s had a headache since day 2. He was also incredibly grumpy on the second morning of our challenge! He came home early in the afternoon and was pretty upset that we didn’t have onion (a staple in almost all of our cooking). That’s Whole30 101 folks! Make sure you HAVE food! We weren’t the best at preparing before we started! Whoops, so Bob had to go to the store and go shopping (while starving), then come home and cook, before he could eat! We all know that sucks! Try not to let that happen to you! ;-)

5 Tips for a Successful Whole 30

1.)    BE PREPARED. Well before committing to the Whole30 challenge, do your research. Know what you are getting in to. Learn exactly what you can and cannot eat. Understand which foods are best, okay, and not okay. Keep your fridge and cupboards stocked with Whole30 approved foods. Bring lunch with you to work and snacks with you when you are out for the day, so you are not left stranded starving. 

2.)    FAILING IS NOT AN OPTION. You made a commitment to your gym, to your partner, to your friends, and most importantly to yourself to start and finish something. Go into the Whole 30 Challenge as if failing is not possible. A cheat is not possible. A breakdown is not possible. Quitting is not possible.  You can do anything for 30 days. That being said, do not choose a 30 day period where your birthday, a special event, or a holiday you were looking forward to falls under it. You would either be setting yourself up for failure or to be miserable. One great way to keep yourself from failing is to keep yourself accountable. For example, I keep this blog. You could tell all your friends and/or co-workers what you are doing. That way you keep in mind that if you quit other people will know too.

3.)    EAT PROTEIN AND FAT FOR BREAKFAST. If you want to become a fat-burner you must stop relying on carbs for energy. If you are having fruit or smoothies (paleo or not) for breakfast, you are keeping yourself addicted to carbohydrates. During my last Whole30 I usually had one egg over easy for a light breakfast. My bigger breakfasts were usually something like 2 eggs with bacon or 2 eggs scrambled with left-over meat and vegetables. If you need breakfast on the go, grab a couple of boiled eggs. If you don’t like eggs – no one ever said you can’t have dinner for breakfast! Heat up some left-overs, cook up some sausage or grill some chicken.

4.)    EAT YOUR VEGETABLES WITH FAT. Most important vitamins are fat-soluble, which means your body won’t even absorb these nutrients without some healthy fat. So top your salads with avocado and cook your veggies with some coconut oil.

5.)    KEEP YOURSELF INFORMED AND EDUCATED. During and after your Whole30 keep reading up on nutrition and consider the sources. Keep reading labels on the food you buy. Keep finding and trying new recipes.

Whole 30 Round II

Bob and I are excited to start our second Whole30 today, after too many holiday cheats. We went to a lot of holiday parties, Christmas themed bar-hops, and birthday parties where there was a lot of holiday spirit and SPIRITS! Then of course there was Christmas. We had a wonderful non-paleo Christmas dinner. Although I made a delicious paleo roasted vegetable salad, which was a hit!

Cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bell pepper, and butternut squash roasted in olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Chilled and served with Garlic Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Then there was New Year's Eve. Another evening of gluttony. I gained back 6 out of the 11lbs I lost from September's Whole30. With the holidays I don't think that's too bad, but I am ready to eat clean and lose some of this unnecessary holiday weight!

I haven't been all bad since my last post. I competed in my first local CrossFit competition in the intermediate division on December 1st. That was great experience for me. My goal was to finish within the top 50%. I got "11th" place, but there were a few ties before me, so I really placed 15 out of 39 women. I was happy with that.

 Snatch

Leading up to the competition, I started training more on top of the 5 days per week I already go to class. 3 times per week a CrossFitter friend (and fellow competitor) and I would either stay after class or meet up before to work on strength or to do a conditioning WOD. Not only was I training more, I was eating more. But I was sticking to paleo foods and mostly only increased the amount of protein and healthy fats I was eating. While I was training I cut back on my cheats and alcohol consumption.

Squat Clean

Tomorrow I will share a few tips for those of you who are thinking about doing a Whole30 or are doing your first Whole30 this month.