So...It's Been a While...

Food
Breakfast: 1 bowl Sweet Potato and Bacon soup (recipe below)
Snack: 1 piece of jerky with 4 macadamia nuts
Lunch: 6 oz shredded pork with 1 chopped green apple and 15 sliced red grapes mixed with homemade mayo
Snack: the rest of the pork salad
Dinner: the last of my Sweet Potato and Bacon soup
Water
2 liters
Workout
"The Spartan 300 Challenge"
Complete for time:

• 25 Pull-ups
• 50 Deadlifts at 95 lbs
• 50 Push-ups
• 50 Box jumps at 16"
• 50 Floor wipers with 95 lbs
• 50 Kettlebell Clean & Press at 20 lbs
• 25 Pull-ups

I know that I've been slacking a little bit in writing.  It's not really an excuse, but I've been staying up way too late for the past couple of nights, and I just didn't have the energy to write.  Remember, we have a total-honesty policy on this blog.  So yeah, I was really tired.  But, one of the best parts of this week was finding the following soup recipe!  I also forgot to take pictures of this gorgeous soup before I slurped it up, so I'm going to steal the picture from the original blog, The Clothes Make The Girl.

Ingredients

• 6-10 slices bacon (I like bacon a lot more than The Clothes Make The Girl Does, so I added more slices, and I also added it right into the soup rather than using it as a garnish.  It's up to you, though)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp Ras el Hanout (this is literally one of the best, most aromatic blend of spices that I've ever encountered.  It will now become a staple in my spice rack)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• dash cayenne pepper
• 5 gloves minced garlic
• 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced thin
• 4 C chicken broth
• 1 C water

Directions

1. Cut bacon into 1/4-inch slices and place in a cold soup pot. Heat the pot over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until it’s crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate covered with paper towels and set aside to drain and crisp.  Chop bacon into  small pieces.

2. Keep 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan and discard the rest. Re-heat the fat over medium-high heat, then add the onions, Ras el Hanout, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Toss in the garlic and stir, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

4. Working in batches and being careful (please be careful, friends!), purée the soup in a food processor or blender until it’s smooth. Return to the pot, add the chopped bacon back into the soup, taste, warm up and adjust seasonings as needed. Ladle into bowls, then sprinkle with a little bacon and chives. Both the bacon and soup hold up well in the fridge for a few days.

This recipe is amazingly delicious, and it smells so, so good!  It's one of my new favorites.

A New Snack

Food
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs mashed with 1/2 avocado
Lunch: 4 oz deli-sliced turkey with 2 cups mini carrots
Snack: Sweet & Salty Sugarless Snack Mix (recipe below)
Dinner: 4 oz steak with Asian Seasoning from Thai Kitchen and 4 macadamia nuts
Water
2.5 liters
Workout
Skill practice: L-sit hold
*Using 2 boxes, lock out your arms and left your feet into an "L" shape.  If you can't make an "L" shape, just get your knees to your chest.  Try 3 times, and hold each time as long as you can.
Then
5 rounds for time:
100 single-unders + 5 attempts at double-unders (I managed to do 3 double-unders!  Not in a row, but that's the first time I've ever been able to do even 1 double-under)
20 burpees--worst movement in the history of working out ever
15 knees-to-elbows

As you guys can probably tell, I really like to have small snacks between my main meals.  That way I don't get crazy hungry, and then go ahead and eat crazy meals.  As you can also probably tell, nuts are the easiest snack for me to have.  They have a lot of really good fats, but you really have to go easy on nuts because they can really add on the pounds.  Today I was reaching for some nuts when I thought, "Hold up, is there something else I can eat?  Because I've been eating a ton of nuts lately."

I remembered a recipe I had found on Paleo Parents that looked delicious.  The main recipe was for a Frozen Custard made of butternut squash (which I am just DYING to try), but the topping for the custard was the Sweet & Slightly Salty Sugarless Snack Mix.  I was intrigued.  I made it, and I was surprised by how much I liked it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C coconut chips (unsweetened)
• 1/2 C almond slivers
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine coconut chips and almonds in a pan, stirring often, until the fragrance of the nuts and coconut come out and a light brown color develops.  Toss in a bowl with remaining ingredients.

To be honest, I was worried about the amount of cinnamon that was in this mix.  I was pouring it in, and I kept thinking, "How much cinnamon is in this thing?!"  I think I was freaked out because of Glozell's Cinnamon Challenge.  I mixed everything in anyways, and let me tell you, this mix smells AMAZING!  If the smell was any indicator of how good the mix was, I was in for a treat.  Let the record show, it was really good.  The more I ate it, the more I liked it.

Now I know what you all are thinking.  "Ashley, the mix has nuts in it.  Duh!"  Yes, I realize that there are nuts in the mix.  But at least I'm not just eating straight nuts, right?  That's better, right?  Right?

Eating Out Part 2

Food
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 5 strawberries, and 3 oz deli-style turkey
Lunch: Summer Chicken Salad from Zuppas--no dressing.  Instead I used my Absolutely Fabulous Greek Dressing
Dinner: 4 macadamia nuts and 6 oz pork carnitas (it was more than I usually eat, but I was really hungry after a long day of shopping)
Water
2 liters
Workout
Tabata snatches with a 25 lb kettlebell
Rest 60 seconds
Tabata kettlebell swings with a 30 lb kettlebell
Rest 60 seconds
Tabata snatches with a 25 lb kettlebell
*Remember, tabata means 20 seconds of doing the movement, followed by 10 seconds rest, for 8 rounds
*On the tabata snatches, alternate arms for each round.  Left arm for the first 20 seconds, right arm for the next 20 seconds, etc.

I share with my birthday with my Aunt Kris, and we decided to celebrate together by going out to lunch together.  Conscious of my restricted diet, I chose Zuppas because at least they have salads, right?  I chose the Summer Chicken Salad.  It was made with mixed greens, sliced strawberries, dried craisins, grapes, sliced chicken breast, and chopped cashews.  The thing that worried me was of course the most delicious-sounding part of the salad--the strawberry vinaigrette.  I asked the first server what was in the dressing, and he had no idea.  As he was floundering on how to answer my question, the second server piped in.  "It's full of sugar." And that was that--no dressing for me.  Luckily, I brought my Absolutely Fabulous Greek Dressing as a back-up.

The lunch was fine, but to be honest I could have made a better one at home.  It really wasn't worth the $7 we paid for it.

Moral of the Story: Eating out is fun, but it's definitely not necessary, and half the time it's not even worth it.  You are a better cook than you think you are, and you can always make your meal to your own personal tastes, which is sometimes more than a restaurant would be willing to do.

It Fits!

Food
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Left-overs from the Sweet Potato Hash
Dinner: 4 macadamia nuts, 2 hard boiled eggs and a whole bunch of roasted veggies
Water
2 liters
Workout
None

There are 3 outfits hanging on the back of my closet--2 dresses and 1 skirt and shirt--that I absolutely love.  Sadly, they don't fit me quite right.  The skirt and shirt outfit was the closest to fitting when we bought them, but it's been 3 months since I tried them on.

This morning I was really tired of wearing one of the 3 Sunday outfits that I've been wearing for the past couple of months.  I happened to glance at the back of my closet, and my skirt and shirt combo caught my eye.  I thought, "What the hey, I'll give it a whirl."  I'll slipped on the skirt...and, miracle of miracles, the skirt zipped up!  Excited, I grabbed the shirt.  It slipped on like the silk it was made from!

For me, this milestone is far more important than any number that scale spits out at me.  Honestly, this was the highlight of my week.

Moral of the story:  The scale ISN'T the only thing that matters when you are trying to get healthy.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash

From 01/19/13
Food
Breakfast: Protein shake (they are not exactly discouraged during Whole30, but they are not encouraged either.  One shake is probably going to be my limit.  Maybe two)
Lunch: Real Tuna Salad
Snack: 1 small handful of macadamia nuts and 3 oz of turkey deli meat
Dinner: Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash (recipe below)
Water
2 liters
Workout
In teams of two, you and your partner will move through 5 stations for 3 rounds trying to score as many reps as possible in the following movements:
60 seconds Wall balls
60 seconds rest
60 seconds Push-ups
60 seconds rest
60 seconds Box Jumps
60 seconds rest
60 Stationary Lunges with Dumbbells
60 seconds rest
60 seconds Anchored Sit-ups

I love sweet potatoes.  They are one of those vegetables that I thought were so weird for the longest time, but then I tried one...let me tell you, my life was changed.  Ha ha, that sounds so dramatic, but it's kind of true.  I am a whole-hearted sweet potato fan! Here is the delicious sweet potato and sausage hash that I had for dinner.

Ingredients

• Chicken or pork sausages
• Cooking fat of your choice
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 1 red apple (Braeburns work well), diced
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• Basil, thyme, and garlic

Heat cooking fat in a large skillet.  Add diced sweet potato, cook for around 10 minutes, or until you can just barely pierce them with a fork.  Add apple, onion and pepper, cook until tender.  At the same time, in a different pan, cook sausage until browned, then chop into chunks.  Combine sausage and veggie mixture and top with spices.  Serve hot.

If you haven't tried sweet potatoes, do it!  I promise, they are delicious.  As a matter of fact, think of the number one vegetable/fruit/food that you swore you would never try.  Maybe it was because it looks funny, or maybe it was because you tried it at one point and it was cooked weird.  Regardless, pick that one thing, and resolve to try it again!  If you need a way to find a recipe that has the food you're wanting to cook with, go to Allrecipes.com and click "Ingredients."  You can use this option to pick which ingredients you want in a recipe and which ingredients you don't want.  After you tried your previously hated food item, let me know!  I want to hear how much you love that food now.

Birthday Treats!

Food
Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg with 2 strips bacon and 3 macadamia nuts
Snack: 15 red grapes
Lunch: 4 oz seared tuna on top of fajita left-overs (I grilled up a lot a tuna the other day, so I'll be eating a lot of tuna in the next days)
Snack: 1 very small handful of cashews and 2 more strips of bacon! I know, I probably shouldn't have...
Dinner: Chicken salad (Mix 1 can chicken chunks with about 4 chopped celery sticks and a bunch of grapes cut in half)
Water
2 liters
Workout
Complete 5 rounds for REPS (not time!):
30 second handstand hold
Max handstand push-ups (just go until you can't possibly do anymore)
30 second pull-up hold at the top
Max strict pull-ups
30 second ring dip hold at the top
Max ring dips

Today was my birthday!  I turned 22 today.  I got to spend time with my family, which was awesome, and I even enjoyed my workout today, which was surprising.  But my proudest moments of the day were honestly my food choices.  One of my favorite treat places is Red Mango.  I love the frozen yogurt options that they have--they are so tasty!  All month long I have been saying that I would eat healthy, but on my birthday I was going to go have some Red Mango.  This morning, I decided to have 2 slices of bacon with my egg.  Bacon is ok on Whole 30, but they say you should only have it OCCASIONALLY.  Because it was my birthday, I decided to indulge a little and have 2 more bacon strips later this evening.

At about 8, Mom came to me and asked if I wanted to quickly go down to Red Mango and have a birthday treat.  I was tempted--oh boy, was I tempted--but I said thank you, but no.  I had already had my birthday treat with my bacon strips.  That may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was huge!  I used to jump at the chance to go get a frozen yogurt or a milkshake; now I know I don't need sugar to satisfy my urge for a treat.

Moral of the Story:  Just because it's a special occasion doesn't mean that you need to celebrate with sugar.  It is possible to find a yummy healthier option that you don't get to eat very often.  And you'll feel just as satisfied--even more so, sometimes.

Short and Sweet

Food
Breakfast: 3 oz seared tuna with about 3 cups of spinach, 1 Roma tomato, and 2 carrots with my Absolutely Fabulous Greek Dressing (it's a REAL tuna salad)
Snack: 6 macadamia nuts
Lunch: The last of the Curry leftovers!
Snack: 10 red grapes and 2 oz of prosciutto
Dinner: 4 oz seared tuna on top of the veggies from yesterday's fajitas
Water
2 liters
Workout
Back squats: 10 reps at 55 lbs, 2 reps at 65 lbs, 10 reps at 55 lbs, 2 reps at 85 lbs, 10 reps at 55 lbs, 2 reps at 105 lbs
THEN
"The Ab Workout"

• 15 GHD sit-ups
• 20 knees-to-elbows on the floor
• 25 Ab-Mat sit-ups
• 30 V-ups
• 25 Ab-Mat sit-ups
• 20 knees-to-elbows on the floor
• 15 GHD sit-ups

THEN

Tabata rowing (row 20 second then rest 10 seconds for 8 rounds)

Whew, just writing out that workout reminds me how tiring it was.  Plus, it's late, and I talked your ears off in the last two posts, so I'm just going to leave it at that.  Stay healthy, everyone!