BrideFit: Starting October 8

[Celeste]

Hi All,

 

This one willl actually be a "Whole45" from tomorrow (October 8) to my wedding day (November 22).

 

It's actually my THIRD Whole30, but the others were a few years ago when I was fit and healthy.  (Dallas & Melissa originally helped me ease into paleo eating from vegetarianism through a stellar workshop, for which I'm still grateful!)  But two cross-country moves and a whole lotta LIFE has sidetracked me since then, and lately I've been alarmingly unfit, sloppy about sleep, and addicted to sugar.

 

Wake-up call: short engagement, backless dress.  I swear I did not do this for vanity the first time around, but HEY HEY HEY it turned out I really LIKED the look and feel of my trimmer leaner body, and, well, yeah, I want it back for the wedding.  And the honeymoon.

What I jokingly call "Project BrideFit" was supposed to have two phases: a return to CrossFit starting in September, then 45 day stretch of squeaky clean eating before the wedding.  My attempt to get back into CrossFit was derailed slightly by some back strain last Monday. That's resolving, but the 45 day kick-off starts tomorrow.

Doing the Whole30 is just a bit more complicated for me since I've only been eating pastured, grass-fed, or wild-caught/hunted meats as my moral compromise since coming out of vegetarianism.  So all of my proteins require careful planning.  Unfortunately there were slim pickin's in meat at my local farmer's market this past weekend, but I did pick up a whole pastured chicken, and I have some grass-fed short ribs in the freezer too.  That, plus eggs and canned fish, should get me through the rest of the week.  I'm considering splurging on a big order from U.S. Wellness Meats just to take care of most of the rest of the month without worry.  I do have a great stash of veggies (fennel!  watermelon radishes!  asparagus! broccoli-raab!  portobello mushrooms!) and a big ole jar of coconut oil -- basically, the GOOD stuff in my diet hasn't gone away, I've just let a lot of bad stuff sneak in over the years.  So I expect this to be tough physiologically the first few days, but fun overall. 

Let's do this.  Go team!

-Celeste

 

[ShannonM816]

 

Doing the Whole30 is just a bit more complicated for me since I've only been eating pastured, grass-fed, or wild-caught/hunted meats as my moral compromise since coming out of vegetarianism.  So all of my proteins require careful planning.  

-Celeste

 

 

Hi, Celeste -- I just wanted to say, I've been able to find some grass-fed beef and bison at my local grocery store (mostly just ground, occasionally some steak), so don't rule out buying from there. At my store, they keep it up by the meat counter, not out with the rest of the beef. I also have a local health food store that carries some frozen grass fed beef and pastured chicken, but I'm not sure how common that is in health food stores. I'm not sure where you are, but it might be worth taking a look at your local grocery store to see what they have, at least to supplement any other sources you have for meat.

 

Good luck, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

[Celeste]

Thanks Shannon!  There is indeed typically grassfed ground beef at my local grocery too.  It's kept in a "healthy" section that includes stuff like organic (but still enclosed and grain-fed) chicken and sometimes the occasional grass-fed steak, or ground bison.  So I can pick that up in a pinch.  There is a Whole Foods near me that has grass-fed steaks if you go the right day, but not pastured chicken.  Meanwhile I decided to go ahead and mail-order a bunch of other stuff (pastured chicken quarters, chicken sausage, beef sausage, turkey jerky for snacks, lamb kebobs for a special meal, etc.) just to make this easier for myself, and for variety.  I will stuff my freezer when the box comes Thursday or Friday, then fill in whatever gaps are left with fish.

 

Next up, tonight: chop veggies for tomorrow's breakfast scramble and lunch salad (with tuna),  & pop that whole chicken in the fridge to thaw.

 

And thank you for the congratulations on the wedding as well.  It's all quite overwhelming at this point, and I'm hoping the Whole30 will help my mind settle some with all of the planning & related stress!