Tired....but happy

I am 18 (ish? I think? I may have lost count already) days into my 90 day P90X3 challenge. That means 18 days into workouts and 18 days into my Whole 30. I've been getting up early (4:45am) to get the workout and my shower in before Adi wakes up. Most mornings, this is successful. The other mornings, Jared is sweet enough to take care of her until I'm out of the shower. Then we swap so he can shower and get ready for work. I still like the workouts. Some more than others, but the mix is good for me. The way the program is set up, you perform a different workout each day of the week (including one rest day). This is repeated for three weeks (same sequence) then there's a "rest/preparation" week with a different sequence of workouts. Then a new set of six workouts for the next three weeks, etc, etc. I like repeating the workouts once a week - I haven't gotten bored, but I know at least a bit what to expect.

Nutrition has been good; I've been on plan despite church potlucks, lunch mishaps, and other temptations. I still won't let Jared bring raisins into the house, but that's okay. He can have them at work if he wants them! I added extra protein to breakfast last week and it has helped tremendously with getting hungry before lunch. The sweet potato hash was a little heavy, so this week, I made it without the sweet potato and I like it much better. I've been focusing on getting veggies in at every meal as well.

I'm a little frustrated that I'm not feeling results yet - my pants aren't feeling miraculously looser, etc. I'm expecting a lot out of this and need to remember that 1) I'm at the lowest weight I've been at in almost 10 years, so my body has a lot of adjusting to do and 2) this didn't all come on to my body overnight, it's going to take some time to get it off. I am feeling stronger, which is somewhat comforting. I'm sure it'll be more so when I can start seeing some definition. My scale has been away since we started, so no cheating and checking in to know numbers for sure. I'm sure that part of my issue is that right now my stress level is up, so that doesn't help, and I'm not sleeping the greatest (again, probably due to stress). Hopefully, things will get into a routine soon and I'll be able to manage it better!

One week down...

Eleven or twelve to go. Not bad, right? :) Week one of P90X3 is in the books. I like the workouts. They're challenging but not crazy difficult. Fast paced enough that they hold my attention (SQUIRREL!) but not too fast for me (I could never keep up with those dance aerobics videos). They get my heart rate up and I'm definitely sore later, so all good!

Nutrition has been good, too. One thing I've found is that working out in the morning makes me HANGRY (Clara's word - hungry + angry) by about 10 am, so this coming week, I am focusing on more protein and fat in my breakfast to keep me held over until lunch time. I made egg muffins and a pork/sweet potato hash (recipes below) to prep for breakfasts this week. Lunches will be left overs most days. We have a few new recipes on the menu for dinner, so I'll hopefully share those later. Also had my first food related dream last night - about a molasses cookie with this amazing icing that was SO. GOOD. So good that I woke up all panicky and guilty because I thought I had actually eaten it. Haha. Probably just anxiety about making it through the church potluck today (which I did, successfully!)

Goals for this week:
1. Better breakfasts to minimize snacking mid-morning.
2. Water, water, water! I do pretty good with this during the week but need to do better on the weekends when we're out and about.
3. Up the intensity of my workouts - 100% beast mode for ALL of them! No excuses!

Okay, here are the recipes:

Egg Muffins

11 eggs, beaten
Veggies, diced (whatever I have on hand - I used steamed broccoli and cauliflower, raw carrots, and diced tomatoes)
Shredded Chicken (I used one can, drained)

Mix together, put into a muffin tin, bake for 30ish minutes at 325*F. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack. These keep in the fridge for about a week. I warm up 2-3 for breakfast with whatever else I'm having. You really can use any veggies you have on hand and they don't have to be steamed first (unless it's something like sweet potato - may want to soften that up a bit). Eyeball the proportions and play around with it. I've also added spinach (torn up), salsa, and mushrooms to different versions of these.

Pork/Apple/Sweet Potato Breakfast Mix

1.5 lb ground pork
1 apple, diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp-ish
Cinnamon, 1-2 tsp ish
Ground cloves, 2 small pinches

Boil sweet potato cubes for 5-6 minutes until slightly softened. Brown the ground pork. Add spices, apple, sweet potato and cook until apple is soft (3-4 minutes).

Ready, set, GO!

And we're off! The 90 day P90X3 Challenge I joined started on Monday. We're starting with a Whole 30, so I'm on day 3. Yes, I know it's been four days since Monday, but I screwed up on Monday and there were beans in my chili (a no-no for W30!). So I'm technically a day behind with that. And this is going to be a short, probably not very exciting post because I'm sitting here falling asleep as I type. Remember that timeline I posted about awhile back? Yeah, I think I was in the KILL ALL THE THINGS stage yesterday and have passed on to I JUST WANT A NAP. It's kind of crazy that even though I was eating fairly well before starting this W30 that I'm still having these symptoms. Hopefully I'll pass through the stages faster this time around.

Anyways, can't really remember why I started this post, other than to check in. If you haven't checked out Whole 30, do it. And I'll let you know more of what I think about P90X3 as we get a little further into it. So far, it's good. I like the 30 minute workouts, they're very different and focus on different parts of the body (which means my entire body is tired/sore right now) and they will help my agility and flexibility in addition to my strength.

Goals? You want to know about goals? Okay, here they are quickly:

Weight: 135 lb by March 30th
Fitness:
Improved strength - able to do both a pull up and a chin up on the bar (without assistance)
Better flexibility - able to really stretch my hamstrings (this should help my knees and heels for running, too)
Improved agility - able to keep my balance while moving/changing direction (also good for running!)

Running is hit or miss right now because of this dang polar vortex we're stuck in that makes it either -72*F outside or 72*F and raining. Neither is good for running! I'll probably do a 5K around St. Patty's day and will plan some more races for this summer.

Well, so much for a short post. Now I'm going to take a nap...

Resources for a Whole 30

Since a number of my friends are starting Whole 30's, I thought it might be useful to post some of the resources that I use/have used to come up with meal ideas, for support, etc.

First, if you're going to do a Whole 30, I highly recommend that you read the book "It Starts with Food". This sets forth all of the program requirements/expectations and is pretty readable (I think it took me 3-4 sittings to read it).  At the very least, read through their website, including the Program Rules.

Second, the two biggest keys to success in doing this are 1) planning and 2) support. Plan, plan, plan your meals. Have a prep day. Cook dinner the night before.  Have something in the fridge or freezer for those unexpectedly late nights, when you get home from work, the kids are cranky and all you want to do is order a pizza or Chinese food. Trust me. You'll have those nights. I'm not going to re-write the book on planning, but here are some resources for how to plan and recipes:

Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan: This is a Paleo cookbook all but one of the recipes are Whole 30 approved. She also has a big section on how to do prep work for the week - great for planning and figuring out how to make this work in a busy life.

Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan: A follow-up to the first cookbook with more awesome recipes.

The Whole 30 website. Lots of good resources, whether you're a beginner or have done this before. Also has a large forum for community support and questions!

The Official "Can I have" Guide. Check here first if you're not sure!

Blogs - Note that not all of these are Whole 30, most are Paleo. BUT, most Paleo recipes are okay or can be modified very easily to be okay. LOOK AT YOUR INGREDIENTS! Remember:

The Clothes Make the Girl

Nom Nom Paleo

Paleo Parents

PaleOMG

The Paleo Mom

Pinterest can also be a great resource. I have a Whole 30 board (again, check your ingredients - these are things I've linked to and may or may not have made and/or modified the ingredients to be compliant).

For support, there are lots of online options (Facebook groups, forums, etc). If your family isn't doing this with you, it can be tough, but you can do it! I really encourage you to look to some online support from folks who have done this before - let me know if you need some help!

I hope this is helpful to at least some of you! A Whole 30 is tough, because it seems so restrictive at first. But trust me, YOU CAN DO IT! And it's totally worth it. You can do anything for 30 days!