Day 20 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Team Human Cone

FitAthlon Day! Finished in just under an hour (beginner version of course). Grueling. My heart rate monitor watch kept pausing when my gloves kept hitting a button, so not sure how many calories I actually burned, but I figure it was at least 700. My heart rate was way up there most of the time! The lunge walk went on FOREVER. I will not be able to sit on the toilet for a few days without holding onto something - no doubt. I was proud of myself for not skipping any obstacles though. Started with 30 burpies alternating with push-ups and sprints, then went on to flip some huge tires, climb some 5- and 8-ft walls, drag a chain backwards through a field, push a 100lb wheelbarrow, walk balance beams holding a slosh-pipe overhead...oh, and plenty of jogging in between. And I left a couple things out. We're thinking about trying again in November though! Should be in better shape after a month of CrossFit!

Went over to Whole Foods after the race and stocked up for the week. Got 3lbs of chicken breasts for salads, 2lbs of chicken wings for Chinese Chicken Wings one night, some chicken legs for the kids, some salmon for more of that delicious mango salmon one night, and 2lb of ground turkey for breakfast sausage. We also wanted to the Red Boat Fish Sauce that NomNomPaleo uses so much since Whole Foods is the only local place that carries it, but it was out of stock. Boo. We ended up getting some coconut oil that's a little less coconutty too since we're finding that we don't always want the coconut flavor in our dishes. We missed the Farmer's Market this morning due to the race, so just bought veggies at the store today, along with some grass-fed ground beef and a couple steaks.

Tonight, Brian and I are having a little date night at a semi-private concert by my favorite bluegrass band, The Steeldrivers. Typically, this would be a night where I whip up a batch of fresh margaritas and salsa for us to enjoy. Not so tonight. While I took a little power nap with my son this afternoon, Brian sauteed up some onions and made some guac to top burgers that we could buy at the show. They certainly weren't the nice quality burgers that we've been making at home, but they did the job - we were both starving, so we each had 2! Brian also sauteed up some green beans, and then cut up some peaches with blueberries for a sweet snack later on. So, plenty of food during the show, and all good!

Food: 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Stir fry of leftover beef that I marinated in aminos for beef jerky, squash & zuch "noodles", onions, garlic, and carrot slivers. Didn't have any coconut aminos on hand, so just seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little cumin. Still tasty!
• Dinner:

• Hamburger on lettuce with avocado dressing
• baby carrots
• Snacks:
• 1/2 banana after FitAthlon
• blueberries & peaches
• beef jerky

Exercise: 

• FitAthlon! 

Day 19 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Biggest challenge yet tonight: Book club. Sooooo many yummy gluten- and cheese-laden treats. And booze. I'm taking fresh berry mojitos. And none of it was for me. But I'm proud of myself - I was strong, and came prepared. And I still enjoyed the night despite not getting a little buzz on.

Since I was heading to book club straight from work, I stopped by Stew Leornard's to find some food to bring with me. I found some grilled chicken on the salad bar and a bag of baby carrots - so far, so good. Then I thought "You know what would be delicious? Some of that Guacamole Dip!" Turns out that it was a little naughty since the ingredients did include some nightshades (tomatoes, jalapenos, and chili powder). But I decided to indulge. Well, let me tell you, I got a nice little tummy ache after eating about 1/4 of the guac while dipping my chicken and carrots. It honestly felt like my guts were getting inflamed - maybe the jalapeno was the biggest offender? I do not feel good about the prospect of having issues with nightshades. I've SOOOOO been looking forward to reintroducing them into my diet to give us a little variety. We use paprika, chili powder, fresh peppers, and tomatoes in so many of our favorite dishes. Salsa!!! I'll have to do a little testing after next week.

Food: 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Panera salad with chicken & avocado & EVOO packets, & balsamic vinegar  (brought it from home this time)
• Dinner:
• Stew Leonard's grilled chicken from salad bar
• Stew Leonard's Guacamole Dip (not legal!)
• Baby carrots
• Snacks:
• apple
• strawberries/blueberries
• deli turkey
• baby carrots

Exercise: 

• last rest day before the FitAthlon

Day 18 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

After finally getting a full 8 hours of sleep for the first night in a while, I finally took my sore hip out for a spin this morning. It does feel better after almost a whole week of rest, but still not 100%. After a walking warm-up, did a ~10 minute jog until my hip felt a little tired, and then alternately walked and jogged for another 30 minutes or so. I also did 3 stretches of walking lunges to prepare a little bit for the FitAthlon on Saturday. Probably should have done a lot more, but don't want to risk getting myself sore with only 2 days to go! Felt a little silly if anyone saw me walking down the street doing that, but I figured, hey, at least I'm out there doing it while the spectators are sitting on their butts. Fortunately, no cars passed by though. ;)

Today I put on a belt that I haven't worn since starting the diet, and was able to cinch it one hole tighter! That's at least an inch! Woo hoo!

So glad I figured out a healthy salad to get at Panera so I can get out of the office for lunch. Although today, we took our food back with us and ate it at our desks (it was a short break in the monotony, anyway). Since Panera doesn't have any vinegar, I went to work cafe and paid 11 cents for about 1/2 an ounce of balsalmic vinegar. Very tasty salad! Maybe I'll just keep a bottle of balsamic and EVOO at my desk instead of making and bringing dressing each day.

We had dinner at Brian's parents' house, and my mother-in-law came through for us once again! Another wonderful, perfectly legal dinner. I was stuffed.

Stupid hip is a little sore again tonight, so going to give it one more day of rest tomorrow. Time to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate though!

Food: ? calories 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Panera salad with chicken & avocado & EVOO packets, & balsamic vinegar from my company cafe 
• Dinner:
• Roast chicken
• Asparagus
• Thick-cut fried sweet potato rounds
• Baby carrots cooked in apple juice
• Snacks:
• apple
• strawberries/blueberries
• deli turkey

Exercise: 

• Jog/walk/walking lunges for 45 minutes (420 calories)

Day 17 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Crazy day. My daughter had her first day of kindergarten, so the morning was a frenzy to inhale my breakfast and supplements while getting her ready before walking her to the bus stop <sniff, sniff>. Then I was getting the carpets cleaned, so my exercise for the day was completely cleaning out and vacuuming the living room, 2 bedrooms, and the huge rec room (my Thursday workout will be putting everything back once the carpets are dry). No small feat. I was sweatin'!.

After collecting my son from his grandmother's house (brought him there to stay out of the carpet cleaner's hair), I decided to get lunch on the run on the way to get him a shorter big boy haircut <more sniff sniff>. So, we drove through Dairy Queen, and I simply ordered a grilled chicken breast - no bun, no condiments, no veggies - nuthin'. And they cooperated! And it was pretty tasty, I have to say. So tasty, in fact, that I tend to think it probably had some nightshade-based seasonings on it, so it was probably in violation of the diet. Oh well. My son got a small banana with his meal but didn't want it, so I ate that too. Another RepairVite violation, but I think it's only because of its higher glycemic index. I figure that since it was small, and I ate it with protein, it really shouldn't spike my insulin out of control.

Brian had been working on dinner for a couple days. Yesterday, he prepped some beef short ribs, and today they've been in the slow cooker all day. Smelled SOOO good! For sides, we steamed some green beans and sauteed them up with onions and garlic, and I also tried making cauliflower "rice" by putting some cauliflower in the food processor until it looked like grains of rice, and then sauted it up with onions and garlic too. I did put some of the juice from the ribs on them too. We really liked them! In both cases, I used EVOO instead of coconut oil - we're finding that this new coconut oil we got really changes the flavor profile of foods since it has such a strong coconut flavor.

Food: ? calories 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Wendy's chicken breast (they just wrapped it in paper)
• Small banana from my son's kid meal
• Dinner:

• Slow cooker Korean-style spare ribs
• Cauliflower "rice" (I only added garlic, onions, parsley, salt & pepper)
• steamed green beans sauteed with onions
• Snacks:
• nectarine
• peach
• homemade beef jerky

Exercise: 

• Cleaning the house for carpet cleaning. That is WORK!

Day 16 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Feeling slightly disheartened today after yesterday's test results showing my intolerance to gluten, dairy, and tapioca. Having a little pity party for myself about all the foods that I love, but should not eat for the rest of my life. When I did the dairy-free thing while nursing my babies for a year apiece (not to mention giving up margaritas during pregnancies!), there was always the light at the end of the tunnel. No light this time, unless my gut does miraculously heal over time and become less sensitive to infrequent, minor exposures.

The monotony of day-to-day life is one thing, but I'm especially torn about what to do during our upcoming Disney World trip. A big vacation without enjoying yummy food?! I did a search on "gluten free Disney" and found tons of web pages with allergen info, which seemed encouraging. I even found a PDF that lists all the foods at all the parks and resorts that are both gluten AND dairy free, including listing the manufacturer of the product - what a resource! And there are a lot of options! However, when looking up the products' ingredients on the manufacturers' sites, almost every gluten-free substitution contained tapioca starch (with the exception of Enjoy Life cookies and Van's Gluten Free Waffles). Not that I really want frozen/pre-packaged treats anyway - I can get them at home if I really want them (which I actually really don't). Sigh.

My doctor mentioned he could give me a product called GlutenFlam which could help alleviate the effects of ingesting gluten if I do "slip up." I'm not sure if "slipping up" includes intentionally having pancakes at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Princess Breakfast or IHoP. I wonder if it works for dairy and tapioca too since my body is perceiving those proteins like they're gluten... 

However, he said what I really need to do is make a fundamental change in how I view food (which is also one of the goals of Whole30):

Eat to live; don't live to eat. 
Food ≠ joy. 
Food ≠ reward.
Get over my emotional attachment to food, and eat solely to fuel my body in the best possible way.

All of these things sound great in theory. Yup. But on vacation?!!!

I figure I have 3 options at Disney:

1. Just go crazy and eat whatever I want to enjoy my vacation to the fullest (this is obviously what the hedonist in me is voting for), which will likely make me feel like crap and undo all of the de-bloating and gut-healing progress I've made during the 5 weeks of clean eating and supplementation prior to leaving. And then doing the strict RepairVite diet again for 30 days upon retuning to start over again.
2. Choose to only avoid one or two allergens (probably gluten and most  dairy) which will also probably make me feel like crap and undo some of the progress I've made during the 5 weeks, but allow me to indulge a little and make it less painful to find things to eat while we're out and about every day. And then RepairViting again.
3. Paleo-cation. Stick it out for the sake of getting healthier, and sacrifice the "vacation treats" food component of vacationing. Boring. And stressful to be vigilant at every meal. But then be able to progress with my journey to health instead of taking a giant step backwards.

Or maybe I'm just feeling extra bummed out because my period started today (which also seems to give me IBS symptoms - must be the hormonal shift wreaking havoc somehow). Sigh.

I'd like to think I can manage option 3 once I can have pork (sausage! bacon!) and nightshades (salsa! tomato sauce!) again. Just having those again will be such a luxury! But I don't know that I can makes any promises about a dairy treat...

Food: ? calories 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• big salad with chicken & avocado 
• Dinner:
• leftover  meatballs in an avocado cream sauce
• Snacks:
• deli turkey
• strawberries & blueberries

Exercise: 

• Nuttin. Slept in a little.

Day 15 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut & Results of Cyrex Array 4 Sensitivity Test

Today was an interesting day. It did have the positive note of losing another half pound though, for a total of 12.5 in 14 days. Brian also succumbed to the scale today, and found that he was also down 12. Wow. There's a lot less bloating around here! Then things got more interesting.

My daughter asked me to sleep out in our camper again as our last farewell-to-summer night. So, I did, and woke up at 3, and couldn't sleep for hours. I was debating just getting up and getting to the gym for 5am, but I felt bad abandoning my daughter in the camper.  So, not sure when I finally did fall asleep since my phone died and I had no other clock, but Brian woke me up out of a sound sleep at 7:30 since he had to go work.

So, I planned to hit the gym in the afternoon once the cable guy finished switching our service over. Around noon, I gathered up the kids and promised I'd bring them swimming if they were good in the daycare room while I worked out. But, much to my chagrin, the wellness center was closed for annual maintenance, so no workout for me! Very glad I didn't get there for 5am to find that out though! Ugh. So, just swimming today (well, they swam, I just walked around and made sure they  didn't drown). It was a crappy day out, so I didn't try to do a workout at home (not that I had time anyway since I started making dinner as soon as I got home). So, that's the end of my Making the Cut streak. Although I was planning to break the streak on Thurs anyway since I'll be doing the FitAthlon on Saturday and need to give my legs a rest for that. I'm going to need to be fresh as can be for that grueling event! can you say "LUNGE LAP?!" I may try to do a home workout Tuesday and Wednesday mornings though.

The results are in! So many sensitivities!!!

I had an appointment with my chiropractor today, and got some interesting news. He was shocked that I lost 12.5 pounds in 14 days, and said that makes it incredibly evident that I had some pretty serious inflammation going on. He emphasized that that's ONE AND A HALF GALLONS of water that I was retaining - not good! Then he gave me the results of the Cyrex Array 4 – Gluten-Associated Cross-Reactive Foods and Foods Sensitivity test that I had done a couple weeks ago, which explained a bit. Having an issue with gluten was a given - I'm not surprised about this after reading Wheat Belly - I think most people have issues with it! There are 5 tests for various types of milk, and I scored out of range (or close to it) for 4 of them, meaning I have sensitivities to most milk elements. So, no more ice cream for me. :( When both of my kids were born, they both had dairy intolerance (manifested by blood in their stool), so I removed dairy from my diet for almost a year apiece while nursing until they outgrew their intolerance (although now, based on my results, I wonder if it actually still does bother them). And I'm not gonna lie - I missed cheesy pizza and ice cream! I also showed intolerance for coffee (which I don't drink, so no problem there), amaranth (a wheat substitute), tapioca (often used as another wheat substitute) and sesame. However, very thankful that I don't have any issues with soy, corn, yeast, rice, or eggs! Very much looking forward to getting them back into my diet after the RepairVite challenge is over!

He kind of yelled at me when I said I've been eating so little, even though I swear that I'm satiated at every meal, and just don't have the constant hunger and cravings that I used to. So he advised me to eat a little something every 2 hours, preferably some protein, but just some fruit if that's the best I can do. He's concerned about the low blood sugar reading on my blood work, and also that eating too little can slow my metabolism down. He also kind of yelled at me for tracking calories since he said I should not be focusing on that, so it was a waste of my time. I'm still curious though. But I may stop now that I've seen 2 weeks' worth of stats. One less thing to do. He wants me to take a saliva test to test my cortisol and adrenal functions to see if that could explain my sleep troubles (taking a while to fall asleep and waking at 2:30 most nights) - that's another $125 - man, this stuff is adding up! It is nice to get some answers though.Then he gave me some more supplements today, and I restocked my RepairVite and Strenthia:

• Omega 3 fish oil (liquid for better absorption) 2x/day
• Vitamin D - 2 drops 1x/day
• X-FLM - 2x/day (antioxidants and thyroid support) - this was also prescribed as a result of my reaction to the X-Viromin

Food: ? calories 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 peach (wasn't that great, so I didn't finish it - that's a change!)
• some watermelon
• Lunch:
• leftover coconut chicken (finally finished it off!)
• baby carrots
• Dinner:

• Zoodles (zucchini "noodles")in an avocado cream sauce with meatballs
  (this was something new - turned out very tasty! I had to alter the recipes linked above to remove nightshade seasonings and egg, of course)
• Snacks:
• Didn't really snack today, although I was hungry while making dinner...should have had a snack around 4:30

Exercise: 

• Foiled attempt at Day 15 of Making the Cut :(
• 4100 steps. Ugh.

Day 14 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

It's the end of 2 weeks! Still going strong! And very pleased with my results so far - both how I feel and how I'm slimming down! :)

Today was prep day:

• Marinated some chicken breasts for lunches
• Cut up veggies for salads
• Cut up melon for the kids' lunches
• Cooked up the leftover marinated meat bits from making beef jerky last week

We ended up just eating some of the grilled chicken that I prepped for lunches. Still plenty left though. At the end of the day, I still hadn't eaten much fat, so we made some coconut whipped cream to put over fresh berries. What a yummy way to end the night!

Food: ~1300 calories 

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• handful of blueberries
• Lunch:
• burgers lettuce wraps with guac
• Dinner:
• grilled chicken breasts
• broccoli
• Snacks:
• baby carrots
• strawberries, blueberries, and peaches with fresh whipped coconut cream

Exercise: 

• Rest day - hip is still bugging me, or I would have gone for a run
• Forgot to put on FitBit again. Oops. 
• Got my "lift heavy things and put them back down" part in though - pulled the old washer & dryer up the bulkhead and to the curb, and brought the new ones downstairs. Now I can do laundry. Yay.

Day 13 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

I gave in today and searched for the hidden scale. I didn't have to look too hard - it was more of an attempt of "out of sight, out of mind" (which did not work). But I was rewarded for my bad compulsive behavior with a 3 pound loss since Monday! That's 2 pounds less than I've been able to reach all year, despite all  of my careful calorie tracking to meet my optimal calorie goal (according to MyFitnessPal and calculators like this one) and consistent exercise. YAY! There was obviously something wrong with my body, preventing it from working correctly!

Today was my first major challenge. I brought the kids to a birthday party. Bowls of chips. Pizza. Cake. Heaven. Now my version of hell. I came prepared with my leftover coconut chicken tenders and a bag of baby carrots, and ate them quietly while I served my kids pieces of pizza and cake. Did I mention I had to hold pizza in my hand, and not even lick off the grease it left behind?! There was fresh fruit on the snack table, so I stuck to that. And there were all kinds of goodies on the "adult snack table" too including my favorite: cheese and crackers. I had a dill pickle spear instead, which was tasty. There were also a bunch of olives, so I tried one. Still not a fan. My mother-in-law was with us, and she was a good girl too: passed on the cake, and only ate the cheese and sauce off the pizza, leaving the crust. No wheat! Woo hoo!

I came home and stained the deck for my exercise. Good times. Brian sighed at one point and said "It's kind of disheartening to do this all day, knowing there's no ice cream at the end. But maybe that's part of what's broken." True enough. My thoughts turned more to a margarita. We've definitely had a food-as-reward system for hard labor around the house. It will be interesting to see if those food reward thoughts don't even cross our minds after a couple more weeks.

We've decided that we'll try a different kind of fish each week. Today, Brian picked up some fresh haddock at the farmer's market, and sauteed it up in coconut oil. This coconut oil from Sam's definitely leaves a big coconut flavor on food, and it didn't quite work on the fish. It was kind of bland, save the coconut flavor. I only ate maybe 1/3 of mine, but I was satisfied, and didn't mind the flaky texture of the fish which I thought bothered me in the past. I'd try haddock again once I can have some hot pepper-based seasonings to spice it up a but (and saute it in EVOO, not coconut oil). And we tried lemon juice in some guac instead of lime - not a fan of that substitution either, so didn't finish my guac either. So dinner was a bit of a miss, except for the sweet potato fries - always love those!

Food: ~1000 calories (too low, and really bad ratio of macronutrients today - too many carbs and not enough fat!)

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• peach
• Lunch:
• Leftover coconut chicken tenders
• raw baby carrots
• Dinner:

• Pan fried haddock
• Baked sweet potato fries
• Guac with lemon instead of lime
• Snacks:
• piece of coconut chicken
• home made beef jerky
• strawberries

Exercise: 

• Rest day - hip is still bugging me, or I would have gone for a run
• 5100 steps; 10 flights

Day 12 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Nearing the halfway point! My second day without hopping on the scale - the impulse won't go away though! Feeling leaner though.

Nothing too remarkable to mention today. No new meals, snacks, workouts, or adventures (oh wait, we did try mustard greens for the first time - spicy! Would be better with bacon...). I seem to be having allergy symptoms lately though - last night and this morning, my eyes were so red and itchy, and I've been sneezing here and there. I don't typically get seasonal allergies, so this is a bit odd...

I've been wondering if getting my immune system and hormones back on track will resolve the following issues I have:

• eczema patches on my feet that have been flaring lately - I've had them since I was a kid, and it pops up on my legs and arms in the dry, cold winter weather
• chronic dry, scaly, flaky skin - also a lifelong affliction
• warts on my fingers - I've tried freezing and acid to no avail. Maybe my immune system will wake up and finally notice them
• a constant post-nasal drip and irritated tonsils for the last month - I thought for sure I was coming down with strep when I first noticed it. But the soreness and swelling went away, and now I just still have this annoying phlegm in my throat.

We helped the kids roast marshmallows tonight. That was a little painful. All those soft, mushy sugar bombs that melt in your mouth... But we are still (blatantly) cheat-free!

Food: ~1500

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• mandarin orange
• Lunch:
• Homemade chicken salad with avocado and homemade dressing & fresh lime juice 
• Dinner:

• grass-fed sirloin steak with grilled onions
• baby carrots cooked in beef broth
• sauteed mustard greens
• Snacks:
• deli turkey
• blueberries & watermelon

Exercise: 

• Day 12 of Making the Cut - 520 calories
• forgot to wear FitBit today. :( 

Day 11 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Well, the Whole30 authors warned that it would happen during days 8-15, and it did! I had my first "food dream" last night. I found myself eating some peanut butter Girl Scout cookies, and then suddenly realizing, "WAIT! I CAN'T HAVE PEANUT BUTTER!" Apparently the fact that I was eating a COOKIE was irrelevant. Brian's food dreams started a few days ago. Last night he dreamt that he was at a social event of some sort, being very careful about his food choices, and then all of a sudden, a huge pilsner of beer was in his hand, but half of it was gone, and he was shocked at how that could have possibly happened. This is somewhat strange since he's not a big beer drinker. I, on the other had, have been known to eat en entire sleeve of pb Girl Scout cookies in one sitting if I wasn't strong enough to simply NOT order them. What's really funny is that the authors specifically mention Girl Scout cookies in their warning. Very suspicious. What is in those things?! I haven't had one for months!

I felt pretty good at the gym today, despite only having slept about 5.5 hours or so. My hip is feeling much better, but not 100%, so I skipped the sprints today that messed it up to begin with, and instead did 30 second intervals on the stair mill between level 9-12. I walked on my toes to focus on my quads, and they were buring by the end of those segments! And my heart rate was plenty high, so I'm going to call that good. On the way out of the Y, I registered Brian and myself for the Halloween Fun Run 5K, and also registered the kids for a haunted 400M obstacle course, which I think they'll really enjoy.

Today was "lunch out" day at work again already, so I schlepped my salad over to Chipotle's again and sat around while the guys ordered food. Although this time, I got a side of their delicious (and perfectly legal) guac to eat with it. Yum. And then...I don't mean to get too graphic here, but...after lunch, I had a bit of cramping and chills followed by quite the "cleansing." Maybe all this coconut oil caught up with me today? Oof. Moving on... 

Brian's mom had dinner waiting for us tonight when we came by to get the kids. When I dropped them off this morning, I saw a bag of coconut flour and some coconut oil on the shelf, so I had no idea what to expect. She said we would be her guinea pigs! Turns out she'd been thinking about the same thing I'd been thinking about making: breaded chicken tenders dipped in coconut milk, covered in coconut flour and coconut flakes, and sauted in coconut oil. Did I mention coconut? They were delicious.

Food: ~1800 calories (I seem to be eating more lately!)

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage



My son helping to bread
the chicken. Mostly naked.
Probably violates some
sort of health code. Oh well.

• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Homemade chicken salad with avocado and homemade dressing
• A side of Chipotle's guac
• Dinner:
• Pan fried coconut-breaded chicken
• squash, zuc, carrots, onions sauted in coconut oil
• Baked sweet potato
• Snacks:
• homemade beef jerky
• strawberries
• leftover piece of chicken before bed

Exercise: 

• Day 11 of Making the Cut - 520 calories
• 9100 steps; 5 flights

Day 10 of RepairVite / Whole30 / Making the Cut

Today was a day of "firsts":

• I actually slept 8 hours! I did not let the cats into the bedroom, despite their VERY persistent knocking at the door. Cricket was set free. Felt WONDERFUL. But I still snuggled up with my son after putting him down for a nap this afternoon, and succumbed to a little nap myself. Heavenly. Haven't done that for a little while, but should do it more often since I think that his nappy time is going to be a thing of the past soon. 
• I did NOT step on the scale! I really did have the willpower to stay off. That, and Brian hid it.
• I ate out! Brought the kids to Panera for their favorite mac & cheese before hitting a couple stores to get supplies for my son's upcoming pirate-themed birthday party. I got a classic salad (no tomato), and added chicken and avocado. They had little packets of EVOO, and then I squeezed a lemon on too. It was ok...but I won't lie - I miss my favorite cobb salad with chicken, avocado, bacon, tomato, feta, and Greek dressing though.
• I cheated. Well, I hope it wasn't too bad of a cheat. While hanging out at my son's buddy's house to watch some live construction work (excavator! bobcat! woo hoo!), his mom put out some Terra Sweet Potato and Beet chips. I didn't see the bag's ingredients, but I assumed they were fried in a forbidden oil, which I just confirmed (canola oil and/or safflower oil and/or sunflower oil). But at least it is just the 3 ingredients: sweet potatoes, beets, oil. And I only ate like 8 chips (which took some self control because they are TASTY). Not the WORST cheat. Maybe I'll try to make some baked sweet potato chips sometime as a special treat.
• I cooked dinner! Well, I made a crock pot meal one other night. Brian has definitely been doing the lion's share of the cooking around here, so I gave him the night off.

I finished off our first jar of Spectrum coconut oil while frying up dinner, so I broke into the giant jar of TresOmega that I got from Sam's. The first bottle really didn't have any coconut flavor or aroma at all - maybe because it was refined. However, this new jar definitely has a hint of coconut, and smells like the tropics. Ahhhhh. It sweetened up the sauted veggies a bit. I liked them, but my daughter said she felt like she had to throw up every time we asked her to take a bite of squash. Oh well. Can't please everyone.

My left hip is still bugging me a little from Monday's sprint, so I hopped on my old friend, my elliptical trainer this morning. It has been my preferred choice of cardio for years, and virtually the only cardio I did until I began jogging this spring. Haven't touched it since May though. And the interval workout that I always used to blow through was SO HARD today! I guess your muscles really do adapt to your current training. I'll have to make sure to hop on it a little more often instead of just jogging. Cross training is supposed to be good!

Food: ~1400 calories

• Breakfast: 
• homemade turkey sausage
• 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch:
• Panera classic chicken salad with chicken, avocado, EVOO, and lemon juice
• Dinner:

• Easy Pan-Fried Lemon Chicken
• squash, zuc, carrots, onions sauted in coconut oil
• Snacks:
• a few Terra Sweet Potato and Beet chips
• strawberries
• mandarin orange

Exercise: 

• Interval workout on the elliptical: ~400 calories
• 8600 steps; 5 flights