Tone It Up Week One

I just finished week one of this 8-week journey with "Tone It Up" and I am pretty excited about it so far. If you haven't heard of Tone It Up check out the fabulous Karena & Katrina here. 

So I've been an avid Crossfit junkie for three years but after some recent soul searching I realized that I need to take a step back and pursue some other fitness options. My best friend did Tone It Up last year before her wedding and she looked g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s; so when we heard that K&K were releasing Beach Babe 4, we joined the team! PS: You can buy the Beach Babe 4 or you can do the free workouts they suggest in its place, both are great.

There is a daily workout plus usually some accessory work and all of it is done in 20-50 minutes depending on the day. So let me be honest here- I'm in my final week of Crossfit where I lift daily, so when I saw the weights used for the TIU workouts were 4-10lbs. I thought it would be easy. I was wrong. Horribly wrong. I've been using 8lb weights and I've been absolutely dying!! It just goes to show that different kind of workouts work-out different muscles in your body. Overall I've loved the workouts and they've kicked my booty (especially the beach booty workouts, ha).

Workouts are one thing but honestly where I fall short is food. I love food and it makes or breaks you in the gym that's for sure. This week I killed it with the food plan and I feel so much better it's kind of stupid. I even texted my friend and told her I think I have abs coming in (which I don't, but I just feel that less-bloated! ha). So here is a quick compilation of what I ate during week 1: 

Monday

M1: Scarmbled eggs + 1/2 Banana

M2: Strawberries + Protein Banana Muffin

M3: Turkey burger (crumbled) + grapes + cucumber wedges + bed of greens + sweet potato chips

M4: No time

M5: Pork tenderloin + oven roasted veggies

Tuesday

M1: Egg cups (with peppers, mushrooms, spinach and ground turkey) + stawberries + booty call shot

M2: Raspberries and Greek yogurt + protein banana muffin

M3: Bed of lettuce and argulua with leftover pork tenderloin + cranberries + raspberries and grapes with balsamic and blue corn chips

M4: Larabar + cutie

M5: Zoodles with grilled chicken in homemade pesto

Wednesday

M1: Veggie and Turky egg cup (peppers, mushrooms, spinach and turkey) with 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and raspberries

M2: Banana and two banana protein muffins (oops, too much banana)

M3: GF wrap with grilled chicken, lettuce, mayo/mustard + grapes + mango

M4: Starbucks Acai tea lemonade with 1/2 the sweetner

M5: Avocado balsamic chicken + steamed peas 

Thursday

M1: 2 Egg cups (veggies + turkey) and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and raspberries

M2: 1/2 banana + protein banana muffin + grapes

M3: Leftover balsamic avocado chicken + sweet potato chips

M4: Veggies with hummus and stawberries

M5: Tilapia + small sweet potato + green beans

Friday

M1: Homemade oatmeal with maple syrup and raisins + Green smothie

M2: Banana protein muffins

M3: GF wrap with ham, spinach, cheese, mayo-mustard mix + stawberries

M4: No time

M5: Homemade chicken tikki masla over rice 

Saturday

M1: Greek yogurt with fresh berries + Turkey Veggie Egg Cup

M2: Banana Protein Muffin

M3: Pesto shrimp + mango + strawberries + tropical smoothie

M4: No time

M5: Chicken pad thai (my 'splurge' meal)

Sunday

M1: Scrambled eggs + 1 piece of GF toast and peanut butter + strawberries

M2: Larabar

M3: Tuna on a rice cake and cheese + argugula salad with grapes and sunflower seeds + pineapple
M4: (not pictured) trail mix with peanuts, raisins, almonds and M&Ms (technically not 'compliant')

M5: burger on bed of arugula, pineapple, goat cheese and balsamic +  sweet potato fries + watermelon

Today (Sunday) I am going to meal prep for the week ahead which includes washing and cutting veggies to be roasted later this week or dipped in hummus, washing and cutting fresh fruit, mixing any dressings or dips I'm going to use, dicing and slicing chicken and making turkey burger patties, making homemade paleo granola and portioning out yogurt and cottage cheese for the week. Looking forward to week two and feeling even better. If you're looking for a new lifestyle to refresh your whole body, mind and soul join with me!!!

Goal for the week: Do all of the workout videos + look for a "goal" trip to take with my best friend when we complete this 8-weeks.

Whole 30 Week 3

It's Day 21! During the first few days even making it into the 20s sounded crazy, but here we are with only 9 days standing in front of us.

This past week was full of new challenges: the real world. I hosted my best friends bridal shower last weekend and had originally agreed to make the cake for dessert. What I found interesting was that although I’ve been gluten-free for years so I couldn’t even normally have a cupcake- all I wanted was a cupcake! So strange. I also found out how MINDLESSLY we eat. I can’t count the number of times I almost licked a piece of frosting off here or tasted a spatula there; all while not even realizing it. I’m absolutely shocked that I didn’t have anything but I didn’t have one crumb or sprinkle of the sweet treats. Luckily I had some other wonderful bridesmaids to help with the food so I wouldn’t be tempted with that mess as well.

Another struggle I found this past week was reality catching up; super long days in the office followed by running around after work, going to the gym or trying to catch up with life meant I was left several days without dinner until 8 or 9pm and sometimes lunch was nothing more than some fruit or a Larabar.

Dinner: Hamburger with bacon and a homemade pineapple-mango salsa (this is a similar recipe, I just left out the peppers as Scandinavians don't do spice

Arugula salad with a Dijon mustard dressing (omit the honey from this recipe) 

homemade sweet potato chips (got a little burnt- oops)

grapes 

Dinner inspiration brought by Whole30Recipes Instagram account. A slow-cooker pulled beef that was pretty good although I’d increase the time a touch, it didn’t fall apart as much as I’d hoped for.
Garlic Cauliflower mash - don't overheat/cook it gets a funny texture otherwise

Fresh green beans cooked with balsamic and toasted almonds

Breakfast became an old stand-by, bacon, eggs and fruit

inspiration for dinner tonight came from Instagram Whole30Recipes too. It was a cashew/almond-crusted chicken tenders with homemade potato oven fries and another repeat of a quickly-becoming-favorite cucumber/tomato/onion summer salad. 

Cucumber-Tomato Summer Salad

1 English cucumber

handful of roma tomatoes

2-3 cuts of red onion (more if you like onions)

1 part water to 1 part apple cider vinegar

Fresh dill

Cut up the cucumber and red onion into slices and place in a bowl. Sprinkle in some fresh dill. 

Cover the cucumber/onion mixture with 1 part water and 1 part apple cider vinegar until it is completely covered **Apple cider vinegar gives it a sweetness, so don't be scared by the horrendous smell. 

Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least 1-hour.

Remove from the fridge, cut the tomatoes in half and combine in with cucumber/tomato mixture. Sprinkle in more fresh dill and salt and pepper for seasoning if you like.

Serve chilled.

Homemade Oven Fries

(serves 4 people)

3-4 white potatoes

olive oil

salt

pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

fresh rosemary

Wash and dry the potatoes, patting dry with a paper towel.

Peel the skins off and then cut the potatoes lengthwise, creating long thin strips of potatoes, similar to a "french fry" shape.

Place the fries into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil (I used a mixture of regular olive oil and garlic infused olive oil), salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.

Lay out the potatoes on a foil-covered cooking sheet (foil=less clean-up later). Make sure the fries are evenly coated. Add more salt and pepper if you'd like. Sprinkle fresh rosemary all over the fries.

Cook on 350 until done, about 30-35 minutes if you like them soft. Flip them over half way through. If you like them crunchier, keep in for 5 minute increments but check frequently so they don't burn.

Proof that you can eat out during Whole30. Now it wasn't the most fabulous meal I've ever had but I got by. It was a turkey & chicken cobb sandwhich (obviously without the bun) which came with lettuce, tomato, turkey, chicken breast and topped with avocado. Then I had a side of fresh fruit and water with lime. I couldn't inspect the meat packaging on whether there was added sugar but you know what, for me, I had to go out to eat and it was something that I knew I was compliant mostly so I ate it and didn't feel bad about it. It was a much healthier option than the vanilla cheescake I really wanted soo.....

Other realizations and tips from Week 3:

1.    I realized I rely way to heavily on Larabars and sweet potato chips from Trader Joes (seriously these things are like crack)

2.    Planning is key to this lifestyle: no planning = becoming hangry = having meltdowns = poor eating = feeling bad. Plan ahead people!

3.    You CAN eat out if you’re super picky and very careful. Be “that” person who is “allergic” to everything and severly annoying…just remember to be extra nice to your wait staff and tip a little extra- it’ll go a long way!

4. On Instagram? Follow Whole30Recipes - that is where I got inspirations all the time for recipes and suggestions

5. I spend any morsel of 'free' time outside of work and the gym inside the kitchen. Seriously, it's exhausting.

6. You have to go to the grocery store multiple times a week if you eat a lot of fruit- it disappears!