My friends and I just embarked on a Whole30 for the month of February (plus a few days). For those who don't know, a Whole30 is 30 days of super clean eating: it emphasizes grass fed meats and organic veggies and fruit, and eliminates sugar, grains, alcohol, corn, legumes, soy, and sulfites from your diet. It is the invention of the Whole9 company, run by a married couple. The goal of the Whole 30 is not to lose weight per se, but to figure out any food sensitivities and repair your broken relationship with food. They encourage journaling to deal with your cravings and issues, so here we go...
Day 1: We went on a big Whole Foods Whole 30 shopping trip, and the big cheese stand made me miss cheese already
Day 2: At church, the pastor literally ate my favorite ice cream in front of the whole church. That was brutal. The Super Bowl was that Sunday too, but I wasn't too tempted at that because my friends that are doing it with me all made snacks. I was very tired toward the end of the day, which was to be expected at this point in the program. You're supposed to be detoxing from the sugar and carbs, so your body has to adjust to that.
Day 3: This was my first day back at work, which definitely was harder cravings-wise. It made me realize how much I snack on unhealthy choices, particularly when I put my hands in my coat pocket and found change in the pockets. Normal, until I started counting it to see what I could buy from the vending machine with it. My stomach also felt pretty icky (a technical term), which they said is normal at this stage.
Day 4: I didn't snack at all today, which is astounding to me. I felt a little bloated at the end of work though, not sure if that's the detoxing or something else.
Day 5: Today was fairly neutral. I had to fast until 10:30 for a blood test as part of the wellness program at work, so that made me pretty cranky, but had nothing to do with the Whole 30. I started craving chocolate toward the end of the day, but not so much so that I couldn't ignore it and go on. My stomach was a little icky, but sad to say, that's a pretty normal state to me. I realized I was probably eating an insane amount of olive oil each day, so when I made eggs for dinner (since I didn't eat any for breakfast), I used ghee in the pan instead of evoo. Such exciting developments.
Day 6: So. Sleepy.
Day 7: I had to stop listening to NPR's Planet Money because it was on cocoa production, and started describing the taste of good chocolate versus bad chocolate. Torture.
Recipe of the Week:
Bacon-wrapped pineapple
TL;DR: wrap bacon around pineapple and cook it. This is what I took to the Super Bowl party (with Scott's help), and we ate it again later, it was good, yet easy to make.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
New Year's Habits
Welcome to 2015! I hope everyone's New Year has been treating them well so far. Let's talk about resolutions, no, habits. I have decided this year that instead of making all of my resolutions at once, I'm going to slowly build on good habits. I'm borrowing a bit from the Zen Habits Sea Change Program, where he adds a habit a month, with some adjustments. This doesn't mean I don't have major goals for the year though. Let's start with those:
1. Get married! I don't know if I can reasonably call this a goal, per se, but I'm counting it here. We've got the date set for August 8, and planning is in full swing.
2. Check off something from my fitness bucket list: I want to do something major that I haven't done before this year. I'm thinking a sprint triathlon, but right now I'm in search mode for the perfect event.
3. Transition at work: I'll be moving from the litigation pool to a specific department in the spring so most of my work habits this year will be either preparing for or adjusting to that transition.
Next: habits. This January, I've been working on doing some meditation every day in the morning. Just two minutes, focusing on my breathing, as recommended by the Sea Change program. It is difficult for me to focus, even for a small amount of time, but the key is to recognize the distracting thoughts and return focus back to breathing. I have succeeded in doing it at least five out of seven days the first two weeks of January.
Second, I bought an unlimited pass at a nearby yoga studio. I have really been enjoying the Hatha Yoga classes there. These are gentle, stretching classes, as opposed to the power or hot yoga classes I was taking previously. It is nice to have a workout but feel relaxed instead of in complete pain after.
Finally, I am searching for the perfect workout app. For some reason, I find it easier to remember to workout if the step by step instructions are on my phone, particularly if the app provides a timer and everything. I have been trying the app from the people that made the "You Are Your Own Gym" workout routine (YAYOG). It isn't perfect: I prefer a full body workout and they do arm/leg days, and I find the title a little misleading (two of the workouts on arm day require some equipment to pull on. They suggest a table and a door for those, but when I workout at my fiancee's apartment, there isn't either of those so I have to work around that). I am going to keep using it as much as I can to see if I am going to stick to that or find a new one.
Do you guys make resolutions, goals, or habits? What are they for 2015? Do you have any workout app suggestions? I'd love to hear it in the comments.
1. Get married! I don't know if I can reasonably call this a goal, per se, but I'm counting it here. We've got the date set for August 8, and planning is in full swing.
2. Check off something from my fitness bucket list: I want to do something major that I haven't done before this year. I'm thinking a sprint triathlon, but right now I'm in search mode for the perfect event.
3. Transition at work: I'll be moving from the litigation pool to a specific department in the spring so most of my work habits this year will be either preparing for or adjusting to that transition.
Next: habits. This January, I've been working on doing some meditation every day in the morning. Just two minutes, focusing on my breathing, as recommended by the Sea Change program. It is difficult for me to focus, even for a small amount of time, but the key is to recognize the distracting thoughts and return focus back to breathing. I have succeeded in doing it at least five out of seven days the first two weeks of January.
Second, I bought an unlimited pass at a nearby yoga studio. I have really been enjoying the Hatha Yoga classes there. These are gentle, stretching classes, as opposed to the power or hot yoga classes I was taking previously. It is nice to have a workout but feel relaxed instead of in complete pain after.
Finally, I am searching for the perfect workout app. For some reason, I find it easier to remember to workout if the step by step instructions are on my phone, particularly if the app provides a timer and everything. I have been trying the app from the people that made the "You Are Your Own Gym" workout routine (YAYOG). It isn't perfect: I prefer a full body workout and they do arm/leg days, and I find the title a little misleading (two of the workouts on arm day require some equipment to pull on. They suggest a table and a door for those, but when I workout at my fiancee's apartment, there isn't either of those so I have to work around that). I am going to keep using it as much as I can to see if I am going to stick to that or find a new one.
Do you guys make resolutions, goals, or habits? What are they for 2015? Do you have any workout app suggestions? I'd love to hear it in the comments.
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