Whole30 #2 Prep

I realize this is really Whole30 #1.3 at this point, since I've tried 2 additional times and have only completed a few weeks at a time. But we're calling this Whole30 #2 because I know I will be successful this time. I am not the only one counting on it! (Growing a person is hard work!) 

I started making some general meal plans and realized that most of these foods we have been eating ever since our FIRST Whole30 - they have become some of the most requested and favorite meals. This is encouraging that it won't be such a hard transition for my family (mostly the kids*). 

This week's menu will loosely look like this: 

• Plantain nachos
• Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps 
• Balsamic chicken thighs, zucchini & sweet potatoes
• Grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes & roasted garlic broccoli
• Stir fry over cauli-rice

I am going to sit down tomorrow and make a grocery list, pulling from some of our favorites. After almost two solid weeks of eating in restaurants and fast food, my body is DYING to have some real nutrition!!  Nothing will taste better than a huge chicken salad with veggies and olives! 

Also can't wait? To get back to the gym!!  Now that my morning sickness has ended, I am excited to get back to running (goal: Run a 5K this fall and another half marathon Spring 2016). 

While I didn't "succeed" with my goals for this year, I am so happy with the way this year has gone. I have changed my health, my body chemistry and I am a better person moving forward. Thankful for all of the people who have helped me along the way and excited to see what the coming year holds for us!

*As a sidenote, since my kids have done the full Whole30 successfully and we established that they didn't have any severe food allergies, I will not keep them strictly on it this time. We haven't ever really transitioned back to cow milk for them to drink but I will not restrict them from cheese and grains, primarily at lunch time. Dinners will be compliant with no additions. 

Big Life Changes

Well, I said in an earlier post that there were some big changes coming down the road for my family and boy did I mean it! 

My husband's job is taking us on an adventure! We will be moving to the Washington DC area in approximately the next six months!  We have been scouting areas and are trying to find the perfect school district and town for our family. 

The only pickle? 

Which isn't exactly a "pickle," just a minor blip in the moving timeline :-) 

But want to hear the awesome amazing part???  

We tried for 16 months to have our first child. I was diagnosed with PCOS and required extensive fertility testing and Clomid to finally get pregnant.  We started trying sooner rather than later for my son and it took 6 months, a miscarriage and Clomid to get pregnant with him.  In the beginning of 2014, we were unsure if our family was meant to have another person or not. So we decided that if God wants another kiddo in our family, He would do it without our help. 

I'll be honest - I was pretty convinced it wouldn't happen and we would be moving on with our lives as a family of four.  I wasn't even really paying attention to my cycles anymore. 

HOWEVER - because of the PCOS, prior to my first Whole30 in March, my cycles were 45-60 days long. My ob has assured me that when your cycle is THAT long, you are not ovulating.   Once I finished that Whole30 in March, my cycles changed to 28 days on the dot. But that was back in March/April and months went by and nothing happened. I figured that, while Whole30 was amazing to me in a lot of ways, fertility was not to be one of them.  I was ok with that. Like I said, I wasn't sure if our family was meant to be bigger or not. 

I did approximately 3 weeks of Whole30 in September, just before my races. Apparently, that second round really kicked something into gear in my body because I got pregnant naturally, with no fertility interventions, in October.  For the first time in my life, I was SURPRISED by a pregnancy, something I never thought I would experience. 

Of course, I found out about the baby midweek that we were deciding about this move.  Sure, why not move halfway across the country either while pregnant or with a newborn? Makes life exciting, right?? :-) 

So here I am, 11.5 weeks pregnant and finally feeling good. I was sick for the first month I knew but I have been feeling good for the last few weeks.  I am looking forward to getting back to the gym ASAP (with the rest of the world, I know!). Goal for this pregnancy is to NOT gain 40 pounds like I did with both of my other kids.  

Of course, I am already registered for a half marathon in April, which my doctor has already advised I not participate. I have already sold my registration and it will be ok, because I plan to be back in running condition in time to do this race at Christmas Time next year!

In light of not being able to drink alcohol (my BIGGEST temptation during Whole30) and the fact that we've been out of town for so long (eating at restaurants and lots of Christmas goodies!), I am going to start a Whole30 on January 1. I would start sooner but I need a little time to get organized.  I'm doing it with a group this time and my husband is feeling just as bad as I am, so he's going to do it again too.  I'm thankful for the teamwork and ready to take on this challenge.

My goals for this Whole30: 

1) Cure pregnancy-induced insomnia - I haven't been able to sleep without the help of citrus and lavender essential oils since I got pregnant.  Looking forward to unaided sleep. 

2) Curb my pregnancy cravings. ALL I WANT IS PEANUT BUTTER! Not the healthy "ground peanuts" stuff, but the JIF that I have been buying in bulk. 

3) Clear up my skin - pregnancy breakouts have me looking like a teenager!

4) Attempt to keep my pregnancy weight gain under control.  Obviously if I am putting only whole foods in my body, it's the healthiest thing for me and the baby. I am going to talk to my doctor about several nutrients that I am concerned about getting enough of during Whole30, primarily calcium. 

So here comes another Whole30, a big big move and a lot of growing!   2015 promises to be an amazing year for my family. <3 

....

Still here. Big things in the works for our family, so my working out has gotten pushed to the back burner. I'll be posting about them next week, along with my plans for my next Whole30.  

Bring on the holiday season :-) 

November - Already?

Well look at that. The 11th month is already here.  I had high hopes for this year, including making it back to 150. 

However, over the course of a year, I have done some pretty amazing things.  I have run my 5th half marathon, my 4th 10K, completed a 12 week lifting program and done 1 full (and 2 half) Whole30s.  I have tested some new things to see what I can do to make myself better and healthier. I have dragged my family through most of it (they are great sports!)

So I am not where I want to be with my weight. And I honestly haven't had my body fat tested lately, although it's on my list of "Things to Do" next time I go to the gym.  But I feel like I have a greater understanding of my body, what makes it tick and what makes it sloth... 

I am in a fitness group that will start reading It Starts with Food as a group this week.  The plan is to do a GROUP Whole30 starting January 1, after reading the entire book.  I haven't committed to it yet, I just haven't decided if I am in the right place mentally. But the more I talk to people, the more I find myself saying "Oh, that wasn't a problem for me during my Whole30!" or "Whole30 fixed that in me!" and wonder why I wouldn't do another one?  It will have been 4 months since my last attempt and will probably be a great time to go for it.  I know Paleo is NOT for me as a lifestyle, but a good kick-start never hurt anyone. 

My weigh in on November 1 was a wakeup call (166). I'd been drowning myself in candy for a good week. I knew my October weight out was going to be HORRIBLE. Things can only go down from here.  So I recalled my first goal of the year - to fit into that Believe shirt. I still have time - my goal is to wear that shirt as much as possible starting the day after Thanksgiving. What does that mean? That means I have to clean up my food for the rest of November. I have to be spot-on with my working out and my water intake (I STINK at drinking water!! Coffee until it's time for wine, people!) 

I am definitely reevaluating the weight goal of 150 that I originally had for myself. I no longer think there is a magical scale number that will make me suddenly "healthy." Instead I am going for fitting in certain clothes and a body fat percentage as close to 22% as I can get.  I think I've mentioned this before, but the lowest I've ever gotten my BF% was during the clean eating phase we did last year. We still eat pretty closely to that, although I have never found a whole wheat or rice pasta that tasted worth eating so we still eat white pasta.  But I have homemade spices and sauces now for a long time and will continue to do so.  

So sorry for the rambling post. Nothing earth shattering today, just trying to get all of my thoughts out on what the last 10 months has brought me - almost right back to where I was at the start of the year...    

Addicted

Coming off of two excellent race weekends has me all messed up - like, it's making me think I actually enjoy running! ;-)

I registered for the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon in April!

Now my challenge will be not losing all of the fitness I have gained in the last several months. I have yet to sit down and make a plan, but I know I want to keep some long runs (several a month) in my schedule.  Who knows, maybe I'll do a half marathon training run and run the full 13. 

I've done this race before. It wasn't my most shining moment. But I'm coming to realize it wasn't about the course or the race - it was about my training and my mental place. It was about the way I fueled myself and the way my mind worked during races back then.  I am in a different place now (and they've apparently changed the route now, phew!) I have decided to give it another try. 

If anyone wants to join me, you are welcome! ;-) I always love to have people to run with during races!

I can smile - AND RUN!

This was posted by Go! St Louis today.  Finally! Proof that I am a HAPPY runner!!! 

GO! St Louis Halloween 10K, 2014 Edition

This morning was the Halloween 10K, one of my favorite races of the year!  We were out late last night, I had a few minor tweaks to make to costumes then went to bed by about 11:30. My kiddo has her seasonal allergy cough right now, so that woke me up around 1am. Alarm went off at 5:35am. Needless to say, I was TIRED!

It was raining on the drive downtown. Sprinkling, pouring.... we had it all. It cleared up when we pulled into our parking spot, but started again on our walk to the starting line. As you can see, I was soaked before I even started!

I love having the Arch in the background!

I told myself before the race - I just wanted to be better than last year. Last year's results were 1:01:44, so my goal for myself was simply a sub-1 hour 10K. That would require my pace to be even faster than last week, but since I had such an awesome time last weekend at MO Cowbell, I figured I could push myself. This is my last race of the "season" so I knew I could leave everything on the road today.

Crossed the start line and hit the button on my Garmin and started RunKeeper (yes, I use both. I'm ridiculous.)  I kept checking my pacing - I couldn't remember the EXACT number I needed to get to PR the race, but I knew it was faster than last year's 9:57 average... Until about a half mile in when I realized that my pace was there, but my mileage wasn't! I never actually hit START!! I just hit the button that wakes up my Garmin. UGH! So I started that up and hoped that RunKeeper was having an "on" day.

The weather wasn't awesome like last week (Cowbell weather was PERFECTION) but it wasn't awful either. The rain had stopped before we started running and if I recall correctly, it didn't start up again.

One minor annoyance was that they didn't take down the signage from the 5K, so when we were around 2 miles (who knows, my Garmin was wrong! *weeps*) we ran past the sign for 1 mile for the 5K!!  I think they planned the route so that the water station at 1.5m in the 5k was the 2mi water station for the 10K/half marathon. But between that and the Garmin error, I spent the first four miles having NO idea where I was. I just tried my hardest to keep my pacing below 9:40. Obviously, I did ok.

I started rationalizing with myself around mile 5 - I can slow down and still PR... I think. I did the math quickly, I was at 48 minutes at approximately 5.2 miles and got nervous - a 10 minute mile would get me there JUST under the wire - and that's if Runkeeper was still on target (which it rarely is!) Instead of easing up, I gave it all.

Finishing the race with the clock time under an hour was awesome. Finding out my official time was 58:04 - spectacular!!  Such an awesome feeling. FURTHER awesome? Look at the stats - 40th in my age group, 369 overall? That's top 30% of the racers! I've never considered myself fast (and I'm still not ever going to "win" a race) but I know that I can keep improving.

2011

2012

I love comparing how far I've come.  This one - this one is making me a happy camper tonight. 

2013

2014

Costumes all came together. I think my costume only made sense when I was standing with my family :-)  but my little people looked like ADORABLE little Lego characters. The fun run was great (once my daughter stopped crying that her costume broke in the first 100 feet...) I usually run "fast" with my daughter while my husband stays with my son. This year, since hubby was actually a registered runner, I let him take the fast one and I held back. My little guy (3 1/2) did an awesome job. I'm thankful for the mom with the stroller behind us who encouraged him - "You have the piece of resistance!! Run fast, Emmett!!"  My son was thrilled, gave me a high five and ran his heart out. It didn't last long, but it was so much fun <3 We walked a lot of the mile and found my speedy family members waiting just shy of the finish line so that we could all finish together.  I am so proud of my little runners. They are troopers for going out in this weather! And I'm so thankful to my husband that he supports this crazy hobby I've picked up in the last few years.

Half Marathon #5 - Check!

So as I mentioned, I wanted to PR from last year. Last year's time was 2:21:40 and this year I just wanted to get 2:20. It's all I wanted, all I expected from myself. 

And I KILLED it. 

I knew going into this that I was going to have to have a 10:40 average to make my PR. I started off and my first few miles according to my Garmin were looking good, low 10's. I purposefully tried to slow myself down so that I didn't wear myself out too early. And I found it hard to slow down to a 10:40 pace!!  I kept reminding myself if I started to ache that I CAN slow down - I was under no pressure to keep going 10:15, 10:20 miles. But every time I tried to slow down to 10:40, I found myself moving right along with the crowd!

Everyone was so nice on the course! I ran into some familiar faces and made some new friends along the way. I normally don't remember much of my runs, but I was trying so hard to ENJOY this one!! I know that my tendency is to speed out of the gate, so around mile 3 I warned myself I needed to slow down a little bit. But mile 4.5-5 was the "High Five zone" at a farm where they invite spectators to high five as the runners go through! As soon as I knew the farm was coming up, I sped up a little (hence the 10:11 mile at 4) to see my family!!  And it was worth the sprint because I got two of the sweetest little hugs ever. 

The next few miles is through a community. I tried to keep my headphones out and take in all the sights of fall (the weather today - PERFECT. Mild temps, no glaring beating sun...), appreciating all the people who came out to cheer for runners.  Once you come out of the community, it's almost mile 8. That starts a SLIGHT uphill. Mile 10 - the ONLY true uphill run in this race! Sort of mean that they put it so close to the end, but it is what it is!

Once I hit 10 miles, I had my favorite thought - "Now it's just a Tuesday run. A 5k!" And when I looked down and realized I had a 5k left and was only at 1:42??  The writing was on the wall that I would PR, by how much was the question. 

I kept going, tried to keep myself from sprinting at that very moment. My Garmin was off by about .2/mile and I kept having to remind myself - MORE than a mile left, MORE than a half mile, etc.  As I rounded the corner to the street I knew the finish line was on, I knew it was TIME to sprint! I saw my family again right at mile 13. I didn't ALL OUT sprint like I usually do, but I was at a good clip into the finish line. I paused my Garmin, got my medal and tried not to explode. The clock as I passed said 2:17!!! Could I have possibly broken not only 2:20, but 2:15?!!!

Once I finally found my family, my first question for my husband was "Did you get the text? What was my official time??" 

2:15:27. 

ZOMG, I shaved SIX MINUTES off my time from last year!!!!!! 

 

I have a 10K next weekend. then no more races on the books for awhile. I may try to sneak a few 5ks in before next spring race season, but I'm definitely going to keep going and training! I never in a MILLION years thought I could hit 2:15. Now it makes me wonder what else I am capable of doing!! 

Race Day EVE!!!!

Tomorrow is the MO'Cowbell 

Half Marathon!!!!!! 

When they said yellow, they meant YELLOW!

I started having pre-race nightmares on Monday and have had race-related dreams almost every night since! Ran 6 miles on Tuesday. Thursday I ran TWO SLOOOW treadmill miles and went to Yogalates. 

Packet Pick up, complete.  Charging my devices today. Laying out my clothes (once I figure out what to wear, the weather is going to be everywhere from 50-70 tomorrow morning!) 

Next time I check in, I will be a five time half marathon finisher!!! 

One week - Eek!!

OK. It's Monday. The half is Sunday!! I am already having half-related nightmares - yay....

I seriously dreamt I was running through some kind of Chinese import-export business and got lost! Then I tried to check in at the first station (you had to sign in!) and they were testing some new technology so I had to stand there and wait before I could sign in!!  When I finally got past that, I ran into a marching band (walking a half marathon with instruments). I was all set to be almost done and when I finally found someone actually running the race and asked how far we'd gone - they said 1.5 miles. *sigh*

So if my week continues like this, I will have some good stories come Sunday!

For now, I am just trying to make it through the week. Tomorrow I will do a SUPER slow 6 mile run. I need to mentally convince myself I have no where to be, nothing is stopping me from going slow and that SLOW will not injure my leg like sprinting seems to do!

Thursday I will hit yogalates at the gym and stretch myself all out. I am definitely planning to skip some of my more intense cardio classes this week. That pesky IT band doesn't need any encouragement this week! I was feeling pretty good after my run this weekend and I don't want to ruin anything!

I skipped a LONG run on Sunday because we were camping. The WHOLE campsite, all the way around both sections, was 1 mile. There was a hill on the site that climbing to get to the restroom from our campsite (which was about halfway down the hill) counted as FOUR flights of stairs on my FitBit. By the end of my run, I was at 34 flights climbed!! I only wound up running a 5k (32 minutes) but it was a definite challenge. Instead of pushing myself (potentially hurting myself!) I decided to shorten my run and do my longer run at home where the hills aren't quite as bad. :-)

So, less than a week to my fifth half marathon.  I am nervous, anxious and excited!

T-14 Days!

It was a good week for me to be a runner! 

Thursday I headed to the park for that "no more than 4 mile" run I mentioned when I last posted.  I have found that I am better with out-and-back runs - the certainty of knowing where I stop, the "run home" that always gets me moving - they just work for me. So with four miles in mind, I started running. I hit 2 miles, though, and was making such good time and felt good, so I said what the heck, let's go for 2.5 before the turnaround. 

I ran most likely my FASTEST 5 miles EVER on Thursday!! I felt good! I know I can SPRINT that fast, but I can't usually go for longer distances with that pace. I was on a such a high knowing I had it in me to run that! 

Sara has having some foot and leg pain so she was unable to do our first taper run this week. Hoping she rests up and gets better (only TWO WEEKS until the MO' Cowbell race!) in time for the race!  I seriously considered just not going this morning.  My family was out late last night seeing our favorite Beatles cover band, I had a few drinks, stayed up late to finish some laundry, etc.  Sara and I have been meeting at 6:30! That means I've been setting an alarm for 5:45 (and getting up around 6 ;-).  I told myself last night I would "sleep in" and set my alarm for 6:30.  I contemplated rolling over as "Sunday morning" started playing, but I got up anyways.   I was running a little behind my own schedule but still forced myself out the door.  

I despise the first mile, mile and a half, two miles of a run. Is that just me?! They are SO hard, drudgery and if it were up to me, I would quit during that part every time (is this why I see so many people RUNNING before RACES??). I feel heavy, clompy, slow and in pain for easily that long. Once I pass through that, I can ease into a rhythm.

  

Apparently, I excel at "the turnaround."  If you look back at my runs, especially recently, more often than not I get faster the further I am into my run!  My "turnaround mile" is usually one of my fastest (my last few runs my last mile has been my speediest of all.)  I love having my Garmin and being able to analyze the data from my runs. It gives the number-geek in me a chance to shine. :-) 

Total stats for today looked good! I cut 4 minutes off the 8-miler time from August 31st, so that gives me a small hope that I am improving, even slightly.  

I took Terrie's Friday morning cardio class this week and didn't fall to the back of the pack like I have been in recent months. THAT felt good too! The class had the equivalent to **34** flights of stairs on Friday - it's an amazing workout! Another "NSV" on my journey. 

My IT band has been acting up today, so I am going to scale back this week. Yoga and a run around my neighborhood (slow and low mileage) on Tuesday, hopefully a quick run Wednesday and Thursday will be Yogalates and another quick neighborhood run. Sunday I am planning on a 6 mile run as my *gulp* LAST taper run!! I can't believe the race is coming so quickly! I can't believe how excited I am for this race!! 

Now to make myself a Uni-Kitty costume for the Halloween 10K! 

Last long run ?!

 Sara and I tackled our longest long run yet - 10 miles - on Sunday. Having quit my Whole30, I wasn't sure how I was going to be feeling. Truth - it was amazing. We were pretty consistent through the whole run. It was closer to the average pace I will need to PR the Cowbell race in (YIKES!) 17 days and I felt GOOD at the end (you know, like maybe I could go another, say, 3.1 miles ;-) 

I had NO knee pain whatsoever. I sat down trying to figure out what I did different this past week that I hadn't done in the previous weeks. The ONLY thing I can think is that I didn't run on a treadmill at all last week. Again, not sure that is the thing that caused my pain, but it can't hurt me to avoid the treadmill until after my races. Downside is that the elliptical, stationary bike, rowing machine, etc just don't raise my heart rate the way running does. So my total calorie burns will be considerably lower, but I will deal with it. 

This weekend starts our taper, we'll be going 8 miles. To be honest, I would feel better going another 10 simply because I still don't feel ready for this race!! But I also know I need to trust the process. I keep telling myself I will go for a longer run during the week but, well, life gets in the way. I had planned to run Tuesday (the weather was PER-FECT!) but had some errands I needed to run. I had one hour before I had to get Little Guy from school so instead of giving up, I ran 2 quick miles in my neighborhood. BOY do we have hills! My "quick" 2 miles totaled 14 flights of stairs on my FitBit! 

 Tomorrow is yogalates, but it isn't until 10. I am hoping for a quick run (probably no more than 4) tomorrow before class. 

Confession.

That should read "confession." 

Because I've realized that the only person putting pressure on myself to complete a Whole30 - is me. 

I stopped my Whole30 last week. Friday, to be exact. It was a hard week. A REALLY hard week. And all I wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (sidebar: for our family, that is sprouted grain bread, peanuts-only peanut butter and jelly with no added sugar.) But nothing in that is "Whole30" approved. So instead, I would wander around the house, wringing my hands trying to find something that was "acceptable" to eat. Some days, I was hitting 800 calories eaten (not counting the calories I expended through exercise.)  And it hit me. A pb&j at our house isn't an "unhealthy" meal and yet it was STILL not ok on Whole30. And I don't understand that. Maybe it's my emotions this week, but maybe, just maybe, I need to start rethinking why I am doing this. 

This time in particular, I feel very disordered in my thinking. I "quit" my Whole30 on Friday, yet almost all of my meals have been compliant since, with very few exceptions. I ran 10 miles on Sunday with Sara and had a minor panic attack when faced with eating a Jimmy Dean egg white/turkey sausage english muffin in the 15 minutes I had to eat before church. The thought of eating the English muffin scared me. I had half (I gave Little Guy the top muffin). I am easing back into grains, it's getting easier, but it bothered me how much different my experience was this time than last.  

I just saw this article on FB. It spoke to me, volumes.  I am still struggling with what "healthy" eating means to me. Like the author of this article, I don't have allergies or intolerances to any particular food or food group.  I don't have an autoimmune disease that will benefit from a paleo lifestyle. And I do have extreme guilt and shame about my food choices when I "break the rules." For now, Whole30 is going on the back burner and I'm working on my mental health. 

I may revisit a Whole30 - maybe during a less emotional/stressful time in my life. It IS a good process and it does have a ton of benefits, but for me, right now in my life - I just need to refocus and get my head right first. 

So I won't apologize - like I said, I have realized the only person I have disappointed is myself (I don't quit things!). And if you're considering a Whole30 - do it. Because you never know how you will do until you try it. Don't let my experience discourage you. My first Whole30 was awesome and someday - I will succeed again! 

Tomorrow  - stats from Sunday's 10 miler!

HALFWAY!! Oh, and a long run.

HALFWAY DONE WITH WHOLE30!! 

I had a rough weekend (see this post) so I did slip, but not as much as "old me" may have.  More on that later. First off, Sara and I met up for another long run on Sunday! 

We both had 9 miles on our training plan, so away we went. It was a GORGEOUS morning with almost perfect running weather. I was severely dehydrated and probably under-nourished from Saturday that I felt like I was running with lead legs. I honestly wasn't sure I would make it to 9, but we did it!

The pace is about 40 seconds off of my average mile/min that I will need in order to PR the race, but after the week I've had, I'll take it. I am going to go on at least one "longer" run this week (hoping for 6 miles tomorrow morning) and go for a speedy run on Thursday (after my new "yogalates" class!) to get some more mileage in. Then Sunday, we'll aim for 10!! After that, people - it's TAPER time already!! What the what?!?!  This training season is going SO QUICKLY!! 

Day 11! 

Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, blueberries.

Lunch: Leftovers. Salmon, carrots and an orange (Lunch brought to you by the color orange obviously!) 

MIdafternoon: Lara bar, roasted rosemary almonds. 

Dinner: (This was my daughter's plate! I was so hungry I ate quickly so my daughter got seconds of everything so I could take a picture  Dry rubbed grassfed beef roast, mashed potatoes (no dairy) and green beans.

This was day 12!! I was off by a day!

Day 12: 

breakfast: 3 egg muffins

Lunch: 3 hb eggs (only the whites, I don't like the yolk). olives. cucumbers. peppers. blueberries. 

Dinner: again made pizza for my family and I ate sausage, onions, portobello mushrooms, peppers, on zucchini noodles with a homemade marinara.

 Day 13: 

Today was bad for emotions. I was so nervous for the vet appt I only drank 2 glasses of coffee & ate a Lara bar. I had lunch at 2:30 (hot dogs and pickles) and a glass of wine with dinner. Dinner was a seafood stew with tomato-saffron broth. The menu didn't say rice but there it was  thought I was staying mostly compliant. My poor pup, I miss him desperately.

Day 14:

Woke up, ran 9 miles. Came home and was too nauseous to eat. I ate about 1/4 sweet potato with cinnamon. 

Lunch: Chipotle. I am still so out of it that I ordered CORN SALSA! WTHeck?!?! So I spent the first 5 minutes of lunch picking individual corn off of my barbacoa salad. *duh*

Dinner: Omelette with onions and peppers, homemade hash browns and Pederson's bacon.

Day 15: 

Breakfast: Banana & coffee

Lunch: peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and onions sauteed with chicken sausage. grapes.

Dinner: balsamic crockpot chicken, giant pile of zucchini.

The last few days I have walked numbly through, barely eating. Mostly because all the things I wanted to eat (pb&j, mac and cheese - comfort foods really) aren't compliant. So instead of completely derailing my progress, I have been doing the opposite - barely eating at all. I am trying to get better about forcing myself to eat, but it's just so hard right now when all I want to do is fall face first into a cake. 

*************************************************************

Soooooooo stayed mostly compliant through a very difficult time, which makes me pretty proud. I'm usually a severe stress eater, and it would have been easy to get something sometime in the last three days. It would have been easy to just throw back a few beers to numb the pain.  I did have wine, but ONE glass (one Saturday, one Sunday) instead of half a bottle. 

My knee felt AWESOME on Sunday, which was the one bright shining moment (aside from the wonderful company, of course!). Even at our turn around I didn't feel the pain like I have been feeling, which was SOOOO encouraging!! 

I wasn't THAT off diet on Saturday night but I could FEEL the difference in my run on Sunday.  Now, to be fair, that may be a result of dehydration, low calorie intake etc. But it was enough that I am definitely staying on track with my Whole30 through my races, even though I will technically be "done" by September 23.  I will add in a few things once my 30 days is up, but I will largely remain grain- and dairy-free until after my 10K on October 12th! 

Off Topic - Hardest Day

This one isn't fitness related or health related, but it's love and family related. 

My husband got Porter about a year before we started dating. For 2 years before we were married and 4 years after, he was our only "baby."  

When Ellie came along, we were nervous how he would react - going from an 'only child' to sharing us. Of course he did famously. He tolerated a lot through her toddler years - from being fed one piece of dog kibble at a time to being chased around by a tiny person with a bowl on her head. And he handled it all with ease and grace. 

Another little person came along. This time, he was different. He wanted to sleep in AJ's room, outside of his door.  They were instant buddies! 

In the last year, his health has declined. Our formerly 90-100 lb dog was tipping the scale at 85, 75lbs. By Christmas of 2013 we knew it was our last Christmas, but Porter fought!  We were told in March that the vet was SURE he had cancer, he just couldn't find it.  We chose not to put the pup through tests and prodding, and to just watch him closely. His weight continued to go down, despite our efforts to give him more food.

When I saw the injury to his foot on Friday night, I knew we had to take him in.  And I had a strong feeling that I knew what the vet was going to tell me. 

And she did. Unrelated to his foot, she said his gums are white, he's only eating enough calories to continue breathing and he had lost so much muscle tone she was surprised he could stand up. 

But he did stand up. Every morning.  Every single morning he greets us, he still wags his tail, brings us toys. I think we have been in denial because he was still caring, kind and loving. His demeanor hadn't changed, which I had always heard was a good sign it was "time." 

Saturday, I was able to bring him home to say goodbye to the babies. Or for the babies to say goodbye to him. For us to say goodbye. 

Thankfully, Jen was available to love on my kids while my hubby and I took Porter back for the last time.  It was peaceful and I'm so thankful we got to say our goodbyes. We miss him desperately and not a day goes by that we will not think about him.


He never barked. Ever.
He always put up with the kids crawling all over him, poking his eyes and pulling his ears.
He loved to eat watermelon and corn just like a people :-)
He always had a stuffed animal in his mouth, most of the time a giant dog we called Ralph.

There are so many other things to remember about him. We will be taking time in the next few weeks to make a memory book about him to keep. Hopefully that will help our hearts begin to heal! 

 

One Third Done!

Day 10!! 1/3 of the way done!! 

Feeling great. Emotional today for reasons unrelated to my food. I definitely had a nightmare last night that I mindlessly ate a forkful of pasta and started yelling because I was so angry I messed up my Whole30! I woke up all angry and moody because of that dream.

Breakfast: Omelette with sauteed peppers and onions. Avocado. Blueberries. 

Lunch: 2 hot dogs, sugar snap peas, applesauce.

Dinner: Jalapeno chicken burgers, sweet potatoes, guacamole and a few plantain chips (I didn't eat all of those) and a side salad with Tessamae's balsamic dressing.

Breakfast: 2 egg/pepper/prosciutto muffins. Blueberries. Power greens. 

Lunch: 1 1/4 jalepeno chicken burgers, grapes, romaine, roasted potatoes. 

Midday: Lara bar

Dinner: Taco salad with meat, tomatoes, black olives.

Spoonful of coconut butter - yum!

Breakfast: 3 egg muffins

Lunch: Taco meat, romaine with a hardboiled egg. Grapes.

Dinner: Salmon (recipe from the Well Fed cookbook), cumin spiced carrots (also from Well Fed), cauliflower rice that I burnt.

My leg is still giving me trouble, but I went to yoga on Tuesday and did a bit of foam rolling and yoga moves (pidgeon anyone?!) tonight. HOping that loosens me up enough to get about 6 miles in tomorrow while my little guy is at school!