Post Whole30 at 8750

[mokiki]

Today is my second day of "riding my own bike!"

 

I stayed completely W30 compliant yesterday until dinner. My parents are in town, so we went out to the Chop House for dinner, and I had a sirloin steak with a side of parmesan truffle fries! They were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I also enjoyed a little too much wine and slept HORRIBLY last night, which is a big change from sleeping like a baby for the past month. I learned that lesson fast! 

 

Today I may add a touch more dairy for lunch, but we'll see. I'll keep the rest of the day W30 compliant, as well as the rest of the weekend, and will see about reintroducing something else on Monday.

 

So far, so good!

[mokiki]

Feeling so much better today than I was yesterday! 

 

Mom and I shared a cheese plate for lunch so I could really give dairy a good test. We had a decent amount of sheep's milk cheese, chorizo sausage, olives, figs, and a glass of prosecco. The rest of the day was completely Whole30 compliant. I drank a ton of water throughout the day and went to bed early so I could be ready for my long run this morning.

 

I've been nervous about my 8 mile run all week, but it went great! I took it slow and stayed consistent throughout the entire run.

 

No ill effects from adding dairy back yet, but I'm keeping a close eye on my skin to see if there are any signs of more breakouts. I may wait a week or so before I start to reintroduce anything else, so I can be sure.

[mokiki]

It's officially safe to say I've fallen off the wagon! 

 

Well, it actually isn't that bad. I've spent the past week following reintroduction the best I could, by introducing something new every few days... but just by having that little bit of dairy and grains back in my life, I've certainly lost all the "magic" I was feeling this time last week. My face is a little more broken out, my midsection is a little more bloated, and I'm back to having sleep issues.

 

Now that my parents are leaving and we won't be eating out as often, it's time to really buckle down and get back to a mostly Whole30 life!

[mokiki]

It's officially been a week since my first Whole30 ended! I'm glad I've had the week to explore some of the foods that I've missed, seen the downsides of bringing them back into my life, and can now really start to see what "normal eating" is going to look like from now on.

 

I avoided everything except for grains yesterday... I had bread (that I knew was homemade with great ingredients) and it didn't seem to affect me too badly. I'm really bummed that my face and shoulders are broken out again, and am 95% sure that the culprit is dairy. I sure do love my cheese and ice cream, but it just isn't worth it! 

 

My goal for today is to be 100% W30 compliant, and to take great care of myself all day. Eat well, enjoy my run, stretch, be productive at work, do some upper body strength training, and simply get back into the W30 mindset. 

 

My sister-in-law is getting married 3 weeks from today, and we'll be seeing a lot of family that we don't get to see very often... so I want to look and feel my absolute best! 

[mokiki]

I started a version of W14 yesterday to get myself back on track! 

 

My eating over Labor Day weekend was terrible. It got to the point on both Saturday and Sunday where I had to order a salad for dinner because I realized that I hadn't had a single vegetable yet... not good. My skin is really starting to show it.

 

W14 to the rescue! I'm not being 100% strict -- I'm still allowing myself 1 glass of red wine with dinner (if I want it) and the tiniest bit of added sugar (I have to admit this one is mostly for Sriracha). The main thing I want to accomplish is going back to a life with "rules" and completely keeping dairy, grains, legumes, and sugar out of my diet (as well as all alcohol other than wine). I feel like doing this for 2 weeks will get me back in the habit, so I don't completely spiral out of control while we're visiting family in Wisconsin.

 

Running is going well! My times are going down and I'm really enjoying each and every run. This weekend is my longest run yet -- 9 miles -- and I'm beginning to notice different parts of my body starting to hurt on long runs, so I've made "rest and recovery" a huge focus. Today is my cross training day of the week, so I'm glad to actually pay some attention to my upper body!

[mokiki]

My W14 turned into the W2, haha! I just realized that those 2 days were all I needed to get myself back into the right mindset and would rather go ahead and start a "Whole9 life" rather than using the W30 rules as a crutch. So here goes nothing!

 

I was hanging out with my 12-year-old "study buddy" yesterday and she wanted to make a yogurt sauce for fruit as an after school snack, so we got some (organic, full fat) Greek yogurt, mint, limes, and local honey. I had just a few tastes of it with some strawberries. My skin has finally started to clear up, so we'll see if this makes it worse again!

 

I'm still keeping a food journal like I did during the W30 (although the focus now is half marathon training), and I've added a sticky note that I carry around with the Whole 9 principles (plus one -- Rest and Recovery). It's a good way to remind myself throughout the day what I'm trying to accomplish within myself, aside from diet & exercise. Adding focuses like stress management (setting a timer to get up and move every hour at work), sleeping deeply (turning off all devices 30 minutes before bed and adding a bedtime yoga routine), temperance (limiting Facebook/Instagram to 20 minutes/day), rest and recovery (stretching immediately after a workout plus adding contrast showers and post WO meals), among others I think is a great way to round out my self-improvement.

 

So happy it's Friday -- now it's time to go enjoy my run!

[mokiki]

Nothing like a weekend to get off track again! Happy Monday.

 

My weekend started with pizza and beer for dinner Friday night. We’re certainly not talking frozen or fast food pizza with Bud Light, however! My husband ran a race on Saturday that started in Ouray, so we stopped in Ridgway on the way to drop him off and had dinner at Colorado Boy, which is an amazing brewery/pizzeria. We split a salad and a pizza and I had a Blonde. It was all delicious and very well worth it!

 

I didn’t run the race, but I did volunteer, so Saturday began with coffee and a donut at check-in, and we were given a sack lunch to take to the summit (where I was stationed). The lunch was a turkey sandwich, chips, and a cookie. I suppose I could have packed my own food, but I just wasn’t prepared enough. I also ran 9 miles Saturday afternoon, so I’m not too concerned with what I ate beforehand! Dinner was a turkey burger (no bun), salad, and LOTS of water.

 

Sunday started off with (another) donut and coffee (seriously? oops), a huge salad for lunch, a hot dog (no bun) and salad for dinner, and a slider with French fries as a later snack... Not too terrible until you add in the copious amounts of beer that I also had!

 

My run this morning certainly wasn’t my finest, but I got through it. I ended up running late for work and had to grab the quickest breakfast I could… which ended up being a ham & swiss croissant. Not how I planned on starting the week! I’m going to really buckle down the rest of the day and feed myself well… I’m setting a little weight loss goal for myself to lose 1 pound by next week, so maybe that will be motivation to eat a little better.

 

[mokiki]

Yesterday definitely went much better than Monday. Baby steps...

 

I had to skip my run thanks to a nonstop downpour of rain, so instead made myself a big breakfast of sunflower sprouts, ground turkey, egg, sweet potato, and mustard. Sounds gross but it worked! For lunch I had sausage with squash and tomatoes, and dinner was honey mustard chicken wings (yum) with roasted zucchini and sautéed okra. I think it's safe to say we've finally gone through everything that was left in our fridge! 

 

I did have some "cheats" yesterday... a coworker added Andes mints to the candy jar, so I had one of those, a spoonful of ice cream after lunch (literally just a spoonful before I realized what I was doing and put it back in the freezer!) and a glass of wine with dinner. 

 

I have a bunch of little goals for today:

 

- Be 100% W30 Compliant

- Stop eating 2 hours before bed and turn off all "screens" 30 minutes before bed

- Run TWICE (since I skipped yesterday)

- Be as productive as possible at work, while stepping away from the computer every hour

- Be a good friend

- Stretch out well and eat a good  post-WO meal

- Spend as much time outside as possible

- Spend no more than 20 minutes on Social Media

 

I'll check back tomorrow to see how well I did! 

[mokiki]

Happy September! 

Man, it feels good to be easing into my Post Whole30 life. 

I'm doing the Slow Roll Reintroduction, so sticking with a "Relaxed Whole30" (giving myself some wiggle room on added sugar) until something special comes along that I'd like to reintroduce. Yesterday, that meant celebrating with some really great red wine. I had one glass at home and another glass at a neighbor's house, which wasn't necessary - I was perfectly satisfied after the first glass, and the second just felt heavy. But I nursed it, and it was nice hanging on the deck with a glass of wine in my hand! 

Results: I'm not feeling too rough this morning, but definitely not my energized, refreshed self. Just a touch of a headache, and a tad sluggish. The main issue is that my night sweats came back! I woke up several times last night. It also seemed to throw my digestion off a bit. 

So, I won't be having wine again until it's special or significant (which may actually be at an event tomorrow, but we'll get to that later). I definitely don't want to get back in the habit of pouring myself a glass after work "just because," so I'm stocked up on kombucha and mocktail fixings to take care of that.

I also set up an Instagram account to document my PostW30 life, so please feel free to follow along @w30at8750! I just posted my before/after pictures there, since I'm unable to post them here for some reason. 

8/31/16 Workout: rest day, yoga

8/31/16 Win: Even with the rules of the W30 lifted, I didn't find myself wanting any off-plan foods at all. I hope it stays that way for a while! 

[mokiki]

TGIF! 

I'm still just cruising along on my own bike. Yesterday was 100% Whole30, and I had no desire to make it otherwise. Kombucha in a wine glass was just as satisfying as the wine, and my food is too good to miss anything else! 

Telluride Film Festival kicks off today! We'll be participating in the Opening Feed tonight, which is when they close off our main street and offer a catered meal to patrons. It's a slightly exclusive event, and this will likely be the one and only year that we have passes, so I'm going to enjoy it! Food-wise, if there is something off plan that looks really, especially delicious, I may consider having it (if it only contains one new food group). Otherwise, I'll make the best choices I can. I will probably partake in a glass of wine.

The good news about TFF is that it is a California-based festival, that is always trying to stay "hip," so concessions usually have plenty of healthy offerings. They even had kombucha last year! I'll be sure to pack my own snacks to keep hunger from making my decisions for me, though.

9/1/16 Workout: 2.5 mile recovery run, short yoga

9/1/16 Win: Day 2 of riding my own bike, and no cravings! 

[mokiki]

Happy Saturday! 

I took "riding my own bike" to the streets last night, and it was pretty easy! For dinner, I had a beef skewer, a piece of roast chicken, a salad (which I'm sure had sugar in the dressing - thank goodness for the "Relaxed Whole30") and even a (very) small serving of french fries. The problem with having a few fries is that it made me want a LOT of fries, but I kept it together. I told myself that I would reintroduce a new food group if there was something at the party that looked worth it, but, thankfully, nothing did. There were some cold slices of store-bought baguette and some cheeses, which were not appetizing enough for me to try.

I did have two glasses of wine, and slept like crap again last night.

Onto a new day! I don't think we'll be participating in the festival today, so I'll be doing some food prep, stocking up on healthy snacks, and hopefully playing outside at some point!

9/2/16 Workout: 2.5 mile run, squats, push ups

9/2/16 Win: For some reason I've been craving macaroons a LOT lately, and told myself that they would be a good gluten-free dessert to have post-Whole30. They were at the party last night, and I considered having one, but the boyfriend said they weren't anything special. I treated myself to dates with almond butter at home instead!

[mokiki]

This long weekend is already going by too fast....

I didn't treat myself as well as I should have yesterday. I ended up having to work a little bit, which threw off my day, and spent the afternoon entertaining the kid in town while the boyfriend went to a movie. It led to a few too many less-healthy choices, and I'm feeling it now. Here's my food journal from yesterday:

Pre-WO: buffalo chicken egg bake, bp coffee

Post-WO: 1 egg, 2 slices bacon, tomatoes with (homemade) ranch

Lunch: pulled pork sweet potato sliders X3

Snack 1: some homemade potato chips, 1/2 beef hot dog, no bun (eating off the kid's plate at a restaurant), glass of red wine

Snack 2: BLT lettuce wraps X4, vodka soda

Dinner: beef fajita salad, peach slices, kombucha

Food-wise, it wasn't that bad, except that I did too much snacking when I wasn't at all hungry. The main problem is that I had two drinks over the course of the day, and I did NOT need that. Another rough night of sleep.

Today will be day filled with movies! I'm packing plenty of healthy snacks to keep from craving hot buttered popcorn: Dang coconut chips, some Epic chicken jerky, olives, canteloupe cubes. We'll most likely have dinner out, so we'll see how that goes.

9/3/16 Workout: 4.2 mile run. I've really fallen off with yoga, and need to get back on track! 

9/3/16 Win: Kept up an average pace of 9'30"/mile - finally under 10 minutes! That has never happened before! 

[littleg]

Are you doing any track work or interval training?  The best way to get faster is to run faster  I recommended this to a friend once and she nearly punched me - but its true.  I PRed at the half marathon with an 8 min pace after about 6 months of legitimate efforts to run faster - track days, fartleks, intervals.  Until then I was an 8:45 runner at best.  For years I just went out and ran - figured that was enough - if I felt good I ran a little faster and when I didn't, I ran slower.  My boyfriend at the time was a serious runner and put me on a "real" plan - and boy did it work.   The combo of 80/20 (or maybe even 90/10) whole30 and a focused training plan and I bet soon you'd be seeing 9 min pace, then 8 30 pace...  

[mokiki]

On 9/4/2016 at 6:59 AM, littleg said:

Are you doing any track work or interval training?  The best way to get faster is to run faster  I recommended this to a friend once and she nearly punched me - but its true.  I PRed at the half marathon with an 8 min pace after about 6 months of legitimate efforts to run faster - track days, fartleks, intervals.  Until then I was an 8:45 runner at best.  For years I just went out and ran - figured that was enough - if I felt good I ran a little faster and when I didn't, I ran slower.  My boyfriend at the time was a serious runner and put me on a "real" plan - and boy did it work.   The combo of 80/20 (or maybe even 90/10) whole30 and a focused training plan and I bet soon you'd be seeing 9 min pace, then 8 30 pace...  

I just started adding speed work to my runs, and it is already paying off! Unfortunately I don't have access to a track - I wish I did - but fartleks and intervals are really forcing me to push myself harder. I've been the same way about just going out and running without putting much thought into it, which is why I haven't picked up much speed. Attempting a Benchmark run today! 

[mokiki]

Back to normal after a crazy long weekend....

For some reason my post from yesterday didn't show up here, but Sunday at the Film Festival was pretty successful! Thankfully I had plenty of snacks on hand, because we were either in lines or in a movie from 10am to 9pm and had no time for breaks. The boyfriend had to survive off of M&Ms, popcorn, and a gross looking hot dog. That evening, we went out to a late dinner, and I had a delicious meal of veal, mushrooms and steamed veggies (which I asked for instead of mashed potatoes), and a glass of red wine.

Yesterday, I feel like I let the feel of the "holiday" get the best of me. The day started with a mimosa with breakfast at home, then off to the Film Festival's Labor Day picnic in the park. I had a burger patty with marinated vegetables, which was nothing exciting. From there, we went to two movies in a row, so I picked myself up a treat: a dark chocolate cluster of cherries and almonds. It was about the size of my palm, and I snacked on it slowly throughout the day. In the second (and last) movie, I picked up popcorn for everyone I was with, and it smelled so delicious, so I decided to go for it! I had a few handfuls of popcorn during the movie, and even snacked on a couple of corn tortilla chips at dinner afterwards. I also had a glass of wine at dinner and some prosecco when we got home, and I am feeling it now! Bad night of sleep, night sweats, and an extreme lack of energy this morning.

So, back to a 100% Whole30 until at least Friday to get back on track and assess how I feel after reintroducing grains. I'm glad to get back to normal every day life and away from the party feel of the Film Festival! Another major issue of the weekend was not drinking enough water, so I'll be sure to get back to at least 3000mL/day.

My exercise fell off a little bit as well, but mostly due to my new training program allowing for a few too many rest days. I'm going to have to up the ante!

[mokiki]

One week of riding my own bike! 

Feeling a little blah and puffy this morning. I don't know if the culprit is grains or just the fact that I ate WAY too much yesterday. The weekend really threw off my "three meals a day" schedule, so I fell back into the habit of snacking big time. After lunch, I picked up some coconut chips, with plans to have a handful if I got hungry later in the afternoon. Instead, I ate the WHOLE bag right then. When I got home from work, my stomach was growling as I started dinner, so I had a bite of pulled pork to calm it down - which led to eating the whole container. Then, I had two servings of dinner (beef and potato skillet), even though I was perfectly full after the first. I topped it all off with two dates with almond butter before bed.

Today's goal: Zero snacking + back to daily yoga + go for a bike ride after work

9/6/16 Workout: 2.5 mile benchmark run, pushups, mountain climbers, walking lunges

9/6/16 Win: Finally, a day without a drink! 

[mokiki]

Yesterday was much better than the day before. I did snack on some chicken jerky at the end of the work day, but only because I was hungry and knew it would be a while before dinner. After dinner, I craved a treat, but instead I did some yoga and went straight to bed.

I slept TERRIBLY last night. No idea why, but I'm going to continue my break from alcohol until it gets better! 

9/7/16 Workout: 4 mile run, yoga (no time for a bike ride)

9/7/16 Win: Treated myself to some winter running shoes so I have no excuses this winter!

[mokiki]

Another big day of snacking & mindless eating yesterday - I've got to break this habit! 

I've also realized that I've gotten a little bit too relaxed on the "relaxed Whole30" - way too much sugar. 

Today is the kid's 7th birthday, so we'll be taking him out to dinner and coming home for ice cream sundaes. I considered reintroducing dairy today, but with the way this week has gone, I'm just not ready quite yet. Instead, I found some organic dairy-free coconut ice cream that is made with all recognizable ingredients! The boys will have chocolate ice cream, and I'll be making a "nutella" (actually Justin's chocolate hazelnut spread) magic shell topping. To prepare for this treat, I'm going to burn a few extra calories this morning, and pack all my food for the day to ensure I don't do any unnecessary snacking!

9/8/16 Workout: 45 minute FREEZING COLD bike ride, short yoga

9/8/16 Win: We were gifted a good bottle of red wine and I was tempted to open it, but stashed it away instead! 

[mokiki]

Happy Saturday! 

I'm checking my weight and measurements once/week, and Saturday's the day, so I was happy to see I'm down another pound this morning! When I finished my first Whole30, I gained all of the weight I lost within about a month, so I'm happy that I'm not following that trend. 

Last night's dinner was definitely decadent, though! I had a bison burger (no bun) with bacon jam and spinach, and a side of fries. I ate the WHOLE plate, and it was amazing. I also had a glass of wine with dinner, and enjoyed my dairy free ice cream & nutella magic shell for dessert, but I don't need to look at anything sweet for a while after that! 

9/9/16 Workout: 4 mile run, sumo squats with calf raises, yoga

9/9/16 Win: Kept the snacking at bay, finally.

[mokiki]

Whew, feeling a little rough this morning! 

The good news is that I got lots of exercise yesterday (finally a sunny Saturday - I had to take advantage of it!), listened to my body and ate only when I was hungry, and still treated myself with some wine. The bad news is that it turned into drinking way too much wine and staying up too late, but at least today is Sunday! I've already got buffalo chicken going in the slow cooker, sweet potatoes in the oven, am about to knock out a run before a quick property showing, and will be spending the rest of this cloudy day watching football! 

9/10/16 Workout: 6 mile run, 1 hour SUP, 1 hour walk with the dog

9/10/16 Win: After my little dairy-free ice cream indulgence on Friday night, my "sweet treat" after-dinner cravings are completely gone.

[mokiki]

Onto another work week... 

It was nice to have a calm weekend after the Film Festival excitement of last week. Yesterday was a lazy day, that included one (very weak) bloody mary with brunch at home, and a glass of rose on the terrace when the sun finally made an appearance in the evening. Food-wise, it was one of those days that could have gotten out of hand with snacking, but I'm glad to say it didn't! We had a big brunch of bacon and a veggie scramble with cantaloupe, and buffalo chicken sweet potato "nachos" for dinner. I did have a few dates it between, but that's alright. I'm really loving my slow cooker - I even got some pork going this morning before I had my coffee! 

9/11/16 Workout: 2 mile speed run, some yoga here and there

9/11/16 Win: Happy to have found a new norm for Football Sundays!

[littleg]

If you need a wing recipe for Sundays...

so good

[mokiki]

39 minutes ago, littleg said:

If you need a wing recipe for Sundays...

so good

I've never heard of boiling them first! Will give it a try for sure! 

[mokiki]

Still just trucking along...

Yesterday was another day of no snacking, but I'm realizing that I'm probably eating too much protein and not enough veggies, so I'm going to try to adjust my meals to account for that today. I am SO excited to have leftover Kalua Pig (from Nom Nom Paleo) for lunch today - it was a huge hit for dinner last night!

Now that fall is hitting us with full force, it's time to really start reevaluating my exercise routine so I don't lose any momentum when the snow starts to fly. I plan to continue running through the winter, but I know that with the cold, dark days of December and January, I just won't have the daylight hours (or the layers!) to get adequate mileage. I've been considering joining a gym for the winter, but it is EXPENSIVE (life in a tourist destination...) and I've never been a gym-goer, so I'm hesitant to make the investment. 

Tonight, I'm giving them gym a trial run! I'm going to take a Strength and Movement class after work to see how I like the place + adjusting my routine to exercise in the evenings. We'll see how it goes! 

9/12/16 Workout: Rest Day, some lower body resistance

9/12/16 Win: Seriously, that kalua pig....

[mokiki]

Well, I loved the gym! 

Last night's class was intimidating, but it was small and fun. I did a few exercises that I've never tried before (back squats and toes-to-bar), as well as some more familiar moves, so it was a nice mix. I'm looking forward to improving! 

I'm going back tonight to try just working out on my own in the gym. Taking the class first was definitely helpful to get familiar with the equipment, so it isn't as daunting. This morning, I'll just go for a short run and prep dinner so the boys can throw it in the oven when they get home!

I also tried some Figgy Pop "energy balls" for my pre-workout snack yesterday, and they had some gluten free oats, but I haven't felt any ill effects. Last night's dinner was accompanied by a glass of rose as well - oops.

9/13/16 Workout: 4 mile tempo run, Strength and Movement class

9/13/16 Win: Good day of listening to, and fueling, my body!