Halfway!

Since it is 30 days, is 15 the halfway mark or 16? Maybe I'll just celebrate both days.

Friday, Day 15
Breakfast - two fried eggs
Lunch - Kahlua pork with cabbage
Dinner - pizza meatballs (ah-mazing!)

Saturday, Day 16
Breakfast - scrambled eggs with pepperoni
pre-run snack - applesauce
Lunch - chicken club lettuce wrap
afternoon snack/early dinner - California salad roll
late dinner - chicken apple sausage skillet

Oh, and Maggie and I ran 5 miles yesterday!

Another two days down. 14 more days. Here we go!

Day 14

The last few days i've been having mental failures. Oh, I really want this or I really want that. I haven't given in at all, but its been there. I want to stop, I don't want to do this anymore. But I am still going, and that is what is important.

I managed to eeke out a 2 mile run Thursday morning early. It was cold, my legs were tired, but that was done. Only one more long run this week.

Breafkast - chicken apple sausage and scrambled eggs
Lunch - romaine lettuce BLT
Dinner - kaluha pork with cabbage, red cabbage, and potatoes

I also meal planned dinners for the coming week. Its probably time to clean out the fridge and do some reevaluating on things we've bought and things we need. But tomorrow, is halfway day!

Day 13 - A Birthday!

Today we celebrate my dear husband's birthday. But not with cake ...

I woke up at 5 and headed out on a run, I ran the same distance as yesterday afternoon, but 3 minutes faster. And on tired legs, which is the whole point of Ragnar Training, in my mind at least.

Breakfast - chicken apple sausage and scrambled eggs
Snack - cashews
Lunch - tacos with salsa and guacamole on romaine lettuce
Dinner - Texas Roadhouse! We went out to a restaurant we knew we could get good food at. I had a steak with mushrooms and onions and a side of grilled shrimp; a baked potato with bacon and steamed veggies. It was ah-mazing!

So excited that we were able to celebrate a birthday without getting out of whack over food. This is a huge mental step. Two more days until the half-way mark!

2015 Growth Plan

The pastor at our new (can we still call it new if we’ve been going since October?) church posted this blog about resolutions, plans, and the New Year. He broke it down into six sections and encouraged us all to develop a growth plan for 2015.

Here’s mine:

1. Faith – I have been really stepping out of my comfort zone this past year with my faith. I’m serving as the AWANA Sparks Director this school year. Its forced me to be more comfortable leading kids and speaking about my faith. Steven and I have joined a LIFT (Living in Faith Together) Group with our church and that has really helped us move through life together. I would like to continue serving others and developing my faith as well. I’m hoping to work through reading the Bible this year. Tackling the whole thing is not going to happen in one year, but I’m going to get started.
2. Family – Things have been going so well for us. We had a lot of great adventures in 2014 and we have a few planned for 2015. We’re spending more quality time together. Games, books, outside adventures, and it’s been paying off. As the kids are growing up, more things open up for us to do. I look forward to exploring more of life through their eyes.
3. Finances – We are so lucky to be financially comfortable. This year we are working on saving more and spending less. Just to get a little more comfortable, a little more stable, a little more secure. I’d love to pay off the Mustang this year and start saving for a house.
4. Fitness – This is where I tend to put most of my focus. And being how it is number 4 on the list, perhaps this was my problem. We are starting the year on the Whole 30 program. It’s really helped me figure out what I should eat and when I should eat it. I’ve started a 12 week program that I am using for strength workouts. Short and sweet. I’m also training for a Ragnar Relay and a half-marathon this Spring. After March, I’ll focus more on strength training until the fall when I start running hard again.
5. Friendship – I have some of the best friends in the world. Absolutely. I hope that this year I can make more time for them. To see them, to talk to them, to make sure they know I’m there for them. We may have miles between us, but in true military wife fashion, we can make it work. And I’m going to put more effort into it.
6. Fun – We must have fun! I try to find fun in every day. Fun at work, fun at home, fun in the gym. I am planning a fun trip with the kiddos in late spring. I’d love to have a family getaway in the fall, but otherwise, I’m focused on fun right here in the moment.

What’s your growth plan for this year?

Day 12 and Week 2

Day 12 - almost to the halfway point!

Today also kicks off Week 2 of Ragnar/Half-marathon training.
Training this week looks like this:

• Tuesday - 3 miles
• Wednesday - 3 miles at race pace
• Thursday - 3 miles
• Saturday - 5 miles

I'm also doing 3 days of strength with the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge 3.0. Those are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I switched up my running schedule and routes a bit this week and am running after work.

Breakfast - sweet potato hash and scrambled eggs
Lunch - spicy chicken lettuce wrap
Pre-run snack - applesauce and cashews
Dinner - taco boats and shrimp cocktail

Ran 2.7 miles after work and it felt awful. A lot of uphill, some trails and just yuck. BUT its done.

Day 11 - The Second Third Begins

Today was another good day. Since I was teaching this morning, I ate breakfast at home. I had some breakfast meatloaf and a fried egg. Yum. I haven't had a fried egg since we started this, since I usually make my breakfast and then take it to work.

I had some cashews about 11am and then had leftover soup from last night.

An apple about 4pm held me over until this awesome dinner. I would have never thought about adding coconut milk to sweet potatoes, but it was great. Gave it that creamy consistency. Everyone loved it! Only downside is that we have no leftovers.

I worked out before dinner, did the Bikini Body Mommy Challenege Day 8. Strength workout. Felt nice to get something done in less than 20 minutes.

Another day done. Couldn't feel better.

The Weekend

Day 9: Saturday

Saturday's are usually our slow days on the weekends. This week, that is not so. My daughter starts gymnastics this morning and husband and son are working hard on organizing and cleaning the garage, with a quick trip to the range. I meal planned yesterday for the week and will be hitting one of two grocery stores today for supplies. I've discovered that Wal-Mart's produce is cheaper than the commissary, with more options. So I'm doing that and any canned goods and a massive amount of eggs there. I'll get meat at the commissary later. I'm very excited about our meals for this upcoming week.

Breakfast -eggs with pepperoni
Lunch - unstuffed cabbage rolls
Snack - coffee
Dinner - steak, grilled veggies
Movie snack - vegetable juice

Day 10: Sunday

No joke, I'm 1/3 of the way there. I can't believe it. This is where I completed my first journey in July of 2013. Now I'm in the swing of things and feeling great. I'v e got a good week of meals planned, a lot of them are easy peasy in the crock pot. I completed Week 1 of Ragnar/Half-marathon training and I'm feeling good.

Breakfast - roast beef and an apple
Lunch - pulled pork, salad with raw veggies and salsa, and fruit
Dinner - spicy sausage and sweet potato soup

Meal Prep: Week 2

So we hit up two stores for food this weekend. Then I printed recipes and made a plan. Sunday was busy, but I knew I could get a few things done to make this week easier.

Here's what needed to happen:

• brown taco meat for Taco Tuesday (and book club treat)
• bake and mash sweet potatos
• make chicken apple sausage when making another meal this week
• make Kaluha pork for Thursday night and LIFT  Group - start early Thursday morning
• make breakfast meatloaf - Sunday morning and it cooks while we're at church
• soup for Sunday night - must be in the crock pot by noon on Sunday

Honestly, this puts me good through Thursday for meals. We are eating out (gasp!) on Wednesday night for husband's birthday. I am also heading out Thursday night for book club discussion and I have Friday night's pizza meal planned and plenty of time on Friday afternoon to make it. Oh, and extra hands! My sister is coming to visit!

Day 8: TGIF

The only thing I dread about work days and Whole 30 is the amount of prep they  required. I'd give almost anything for a fried egg and that just isn't going to happen during the week. But, I made it through a full week at work being Whole 30 Compliant. My coworkers are awesome and didn't try to tempt me.

pre-breakfast - apple sauce

Breakfast - grapefruit

Lunch - sushi! Well, my kind of sushi. I had lettuce rolls with cucumber, carrot and crab meat. 

Snack - coffee

Dinner - Pizza Pile! The base of this is spaghetti squash, then I added tomato sauce, sauteed mushrooms and pepperoni. The kids added cheese. It was yummy! 

Days 6 & 7 - I've Got This!

Day 6 was another easy day. So easy I forgot to write about it!

I ran 2 miles in intervals on the treadmill.
I had scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast.
Lunch was vegetable juice and some chicken salad.
Then a grapefruit for snack.
Shrimp stir fry for dinner.
Then a quick strength workout before bed.

Day 7: I'm totally getting into this. Its great.

I ran 2.2 miles this morning in a light rain, it was delightful.
Breakfast: scrambled eggs and sausage and applesauce
Lunch: leftover shrimp stir fry
Dinner: well, the planned meal did not go over well, so I had a egg salad with guacamole and then cashews. Wasn't really hungry, so didn't stress over it too much.

Day 5 - Simple?

Today is Day 5. And it may have been the easiest. I'm most certainly battling something, whether its a cold, the change in temperature, or the "Whole 30 flu." So food was really the last thing on my mind.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with sausage
Mid-morning: coffee
Lunch: vegetable juice and lunch meat
Dinner: tilapia & avocado on spinach salad

And that was it. I am bummed that I couldn't run this morning. And I'm bummed that I probably won't get in my miles tomorrow, but if I push it now then it'll be worse later.

Day 4 (and Day 1)

This morning I woke up earlier than I have been to get back on schedule. The kids are heading back to daycare/school and I need to get used to early morning workouts. I woke up at 5:30 and completed the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge (BBM) 3.0. This morning was a fit test and all told lasted 16 minutes. Easy.

I had chorizo chili with some guacamole for breakfast and then had one cup of coffee and a bottle of water.

Lunch was the last of the lasagna soup. With a small apple.

I had a quick afternoon snack of veggies and guacamole, about 3 o'clock. I'm still having a hard time making it all the way through the afternoon without a snack.

We had dinner with friends tonight and chowed down on breakfast casserole and paleo crepes. Yum!

Another day in the record books!

Day 3: Suprisingly OK

I woke up dreading this morning. Seriously, I knew that it was going to be a rough day, because that is what they freely tell you. I drank a lot of water last night, so I was hoping the Hangover wasn't going to hit me so hard. I woke up with a slight headache, but decided to take Tylenol before it got unbearable. That worked.

Breakfast was hurried but healthy: Scrambled eggs with avocado that husband made. (If you were counting, I started this journey with 5 dozen and 9 eggs, I'm not down to 4 dozen and 2 eggs.) Anyway, we headed off to church where I brought my water bottle to avoid the need for more coffee. We sat down and I turned to husband and said, "I smell Hazelnut Coffee Creamer." He looked at me like I was crazy.

I went food shopping for the few things we needed to make it through this week. It went pretty quickly as I avoided all but 2 of the inside aisles of the store. Produce, canned tomatoes, fruit pouches, meat, meat, meat. Easy.

For lunch I made grilled portobello mushroom caps and then whipped up some crab cake yumminess. Real crab meat, a little paleo mayo, mustard, dry mustard and Voila!

We had AWANA this afternoon, and as I expected my time was spent herding cats, I mean elementary school children who have been cooped up inside and out of school for two weeks. But I did drink a lot of water

Thankfully, I had Chorizo Chili in the crock pot for dinner. And there is just barely enough left over for breakfast tomorrow with a fried egg.

More water will come tonight, and maybe a banana or apple. But I'm going ahead and declaring Day 3 complete!

Day 2: Headache

Day 2 went well, food wise, really well, but I started getting the headaches. I knew they were coming, but it was still hard. I ended up taking a nap, diffusing peppermint oil, and finally taking Tylenol.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, and avocado
2 mile run
Lunch: cabbage with bacon
Dinner: lasagna soup

I went to book club last night, I was a little intimidated as its a potluck of snacks. I made compliant deviled eggs and told myself that I wouldn't starve if that was the only thing I could eat. So I had several of those, red peppers and celery. That was an accomplishment all in itself. Another day down!

Day 1 - Off to a Great Start

Its 8:10 and my food prep has already paid off!

I woke up this morning, later than normal because I just didn't want to get up, and weighed and measured myself. One of the Whole 30 "rules" is no scale for the 30 days. However, I'm part of a competition that requires me to weigh in on Mondays. So I will be weighing in only on Mondays for that purpose. Anyway, I will be taking before pictures tomorrow morning. I will not be posting them right now. Maybe, MAYBE in the future.

So, I decided on some cabbage and bacon for breakfast, part one. While this was heating up, I packed up another serving for part 2, along with a banana and then mixed up my chicken salad for lunch.

I headed off to work, where I had my second half of breakfast, along with a cup of coffee. A few hours later, I ate the banana.

I had two hard boiled eggs and chicken salad for lunch about 11:30. And, I decided to join the big, scary world of instagram. You can follow me at: armywife12.29 but be prepared for lots of food photos!

That lasted me until about 3:30, where I had a glass of water and then another cup of coffee.

Dinner was Lasagna Soup and I had a light snack of a few banana chips and more water before bed.

Day 1 - SUCCESS!

Food Prep

Like any new adventure, there's a lot of work behind the scenes. I finished up meal planning for the next few days and with a quick Walmart trip, was ready to go.

Here's what I prepped today:
Chicken in the crock pot (for chicken salad)
Hard boiled eggs
Bacon
Paleo Mayo
Cabbage with bacon
Browned sausage for breakfast
Lasagna Soup

Now I'm pretty sure I'm ready for the next few days, at least. Dinners will still need to be prepared, but its easier to grab something and when the only things in the fridge are Whole 30 Compliant, that makes life easier.

My Whole 30 Journey

Today is Day 0, tomorrow I start on 30 days of a new way of looking at food. Here’s the basic of what the Whole 30 entails.

I will eat:

• Meat, seafood
• Eggs
• Vegetables, some fruits
• Good fats: oils, nuts, fruits, seeds

I will NOT eat:

• Sugar – real or artificial
• Alcohol
• Grains
• Legumes (yes, this includes peanut butter)
• Dairy
• Carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites
• “fake” desserts – ie Paleo cupcakes

The few exceptions to this rule:

·         Clarified butter or ghee

·         Fruit juice as a sweetener

·         Certain legumes (green beans, snap peas, snow peas are ok)

·         Vinegar

·         Salt

So, I will eat the things that are allowed and not stress over the things I can’t eat. I will not cheat. I will make food as interesting and fun as possible and I will start viewing it as fuel and release its psychological hold over me.

Yes, my family is doing this with me. The kids, of course, will still have dairy and grains. But desserts are gone from the house. There is nothing bad or dangerous about this, so there is no reason they can’t participate.

So, why am I telling you? Because this is important to me. Very important. So please do not:

1.  Try to convince me this is not what I should be doing. I’m intelligent enough to do my research.
2. Offer me things you flat out know I can’t have. Like birthday cake. Or a bagel.
3. Let me eat things I cannot. If, in a moment of weakness, reach for something I should not eat, be a good friend and slap me. Throw it away. Save me from myself.

This is my plan for the next 30 days. January 2^nd through January 31^st. They keep telling me this is not hard. That having my coffee without creamer isn’t hard. That if I could handle childbirth, multiple deployments, several moves, and finishing a Spartan Race, I can handle this. I can handle this! Who knows, I may even like it….