Welcome, 2017

Hello again.  I did not expect to be awake on New Year’s Day at 6 a.m. (let alone 5:45 a.m. when I was rudely awakened by my dog, who happens to be a nervous Nelly). But alas, here I am.

The end of 2016 was a blur.  I was focused on one goal for work and thought about little else.  Now, it’s already 2017 and I have some things I know I’m working on but haven’t really been thoughtful about it like in years past (and put it into writing).

One thing I do know is that I want to be on here more, putting thoughts onto paper, or well, thoughts into the blogosphere.  I didn’t go the writing career route after college, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t enjoy writing. And this little blog is a way to hold onto that passion.

So please expect more of this from me.  Here are some other things I hope to have more (or less) of in my life in 2017:

-More time outside

-Less time on the couch

-More time spent with God praying, worshipping and reading his word

-More time strengthening, foam rolling, doing yoga

-More time being thoughtful about what I put (and don’t put) in my body

-More time with friends and family (hard for an introvert)

-More time eating at home, preparing meals for my family and having friends over for dinner and less time at restaurants (I feel I do a pretty good job with this already but this can always be improved upon!)

That’s what I have for now.  Also, I’m doing a January Whole 30 (which leads me right up to an impromptu vacation to Mexico, eek!) and I’m also doing Grandma’s Marathon in June (with family and I’m so excited about it!)

I’m wishing you all a very healthy and happy 2017!

-Leah

 

January mileage

I forgot to mention this in my last post.  I realized that my mileage after the half marathon on January 24th was 94.85 miles so far for the month.  I didn’t run for a whole week after the race because I was sore, especially my achilles and I have dealt with injuries in that region.  But I thought, I better make it an even 100 for the month, so yesterday I ran 5.15 miles. I guess you could say I have a family history of OCD…

My Whole 30 Experience

It’s day 31 of my Whole 30.  Which means, I did it! And I will say, it’s not ‘that’ hard.  I love this quote from the author, Melissa Hartwig, “It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. – See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.EWB932zf.dpuf”

(And, if you want you can add coconut milk (full fat) to your coffee, which I happen to be drinking right now.  And it’s good!)

And drum roll please, I lost 6 pounds! In 30 days! I am really happy about that.  I was secretly hoping I lost double digits, like 10, but I am actually more happy about this.  Six pounds isn’t a crazy number, which leads me to believe that this is real.  It’s not some fad, it is sustainable weight loss.

The other reason why 6 pounds is awesome is because outside of following the food rules, I didn’t restrict myself.  I ate what I wanted and how much I wanted.  I never felt hungry (unless it was right before a meal), I didn’t count calories, I didn’t think a whole lot about macronutrient proportions or if I was eating too much fat.  In fact, because I’ve been buying my avocadoes at Costco, I have a lot to eat once they are ripe, so it became one of my goals towards then end to eat 1 avocado a day.  And I have a new found love for them.

Here are some other things I noticed during the 30 days:

-Tigers blood (what the Whole 30ers call this side effect) – Sustained energy throughout the day.  You heard me say this before if you’re a regular reader.  I don’t have energy swings, I don’t get tired at 3:00 p.m. (or right after lunch), and I don’t get low blood sugar or the ‘shakes’ (which would happen to me somewhat frequently.)  This is the greatest change for me (outside of better body image) because I used to feel tired a lot and back in the day, I would actually fall asleep sitting up in a chair right around that 2-3 p.m. slump. Tigers blood is also just overall feelings of awesomeness.

-Better body image.  I started to see changes in my face and body maybe 2 weeks in which is always a good feeling.  But having a little more control over my eating habits has also helped me feel so good about myself.  My eating and drinking habits (especially at night and when I was alone) made me feel a little out of control.  I snacked and ate out of boredom.  Or I’d get these uncontrollable cravings for pizza specifically and would order one and eat a lot of it and then feel like crap afterwards.  Having this control and not turning to foods when I’m bored has sent my self image through the roof. Also, the foods I eat now, make me feel good.  I never feel sick to my stomach, even if I am really full.

-My skin and hair was generally pretty good.  But I have noticed that my skin is clearer and more even.  And my hair is crazy silky (probably from all the avocados.)  I actually noticed this change (especially my skin) in the picture taken last night where I was makeup free.  (Photo note: I really was in auntie heaven.  If my hubby was with me, there is no way that my nephew would have wanted to cuddle with me, he for sure would have been cuddling my hubby instead, his ‘best-friend’. So I got really lucky.)

-Okay starting out, my running was really a problem.  Then, on day 18, I went for a 4 miler and I felt really good.  But I wasn’t sure how my half-marathon was going to go (coming up on day 23).  It went really well, much better than I expected.  I felt good the majority of the time. There was one point right after the mile 10 marker when I started to feel really weak.  I was about to try and eat some of the banana I stashed in my pocket (literally) but I thought I’d wait it out and focus on my running mantras which happen to be, “just one foot in front of the other” and “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”.  And it worked.  I also focused on picking off people in front of me.  What’s crazy is that I did end up passing a lot of people in the last 4-5 miles and I never got passed in those final miles. Now the very end of this race (like the last half mile) is a total b**** and I felt awful for that last five minutes (literally my final mile was a 10 minute mile which really disappointed me because I was running much faster up to that point.) There is this one really steep up-hill that did me in.  I had to walk and I thought for sure someone would pass me.  But no one did, apparently everyone else had a problem with that hill too. When I did finally finish, I thought for sure I was going to puke, but I didn’t.  I didn’t have anything except some water at the water stops and that is why I was sick at the end.  If I’m going to continue with this, I will definitely need to figure out long run fueling because I’ve got some marathon training coming up in the near future. (Oh by the way, the morning before the half, I ate 3 scrambled eggs with hot sauce. I never would have thought that would be a good pre-run breakfast.) The other great thing about this race was my stomach.  I had zero stomach issues. Which is amazing.

-Sleep – My sleep has been great.  I still have very vivid dreams but the quality of my sleep is great every single night.

So what do I do now. On the whole 30 website, they actually talk about this and how people get panicky on day 30 about what to do on day 31.  Here was my original plan, continue eating the Whole 30 way, but add in wine so I am not a sloppy drunk in Mexico because I will be having some cocktails in Mexico.  But how much of an impact on my tolerance will a couple of glasses of wine a few nights actually have on my tolerance. So I haven’t decided.

Do you want to know what I am craving right now? Hot oatmeal. I know, I am weird. I’ll let you all know if I cave.

Foodie pics from the week (and a recipe or two)

This is a snack I had last week.  Friday night we had dinner plans at 7:45 p.m. and I ate lunch around noon.  I needed something to hold me over so I made some guacamole from the Pico De Gallo I buy from Valley Natural.  I added an avocado, a serano pepper, some cilantro, and more fresh lime juice.  I ate it with some sliced cucumbers.  If this is the Whole 30, then I am a happy girl.

Taco Tuesday!  I made tacos on for dinner on Tuesday night.  I used a spice mix I put together (I think I just looked on pinterest) and cooked the ground beef like you would if you were making tacos with one of those seasoning packets (that are SO bad if you actually look at the ingredients, MSG anyone?!?) Making your own taco spice mix is super easy so I don’t know why people buy those packets still. (I’ll try and find what I used for the seasoning mix.) I put the taco meat in some red cabbage and topped it with guacamole and mango salsa that I made.  These are SO good!  Also the taco meat makes great leftovers, I had a salad with romaine and other greens topped with the taco meat and the salsa and guacamole.  It was great.

I made chicken puttenesca again! (It was amazing again) And had it for leftovers the next day!

We had burgers with broccoli, roasted root veggies, and smashed red potatoes. A classic dinner.

A pic of the chicken curry I made a while ago.  (I put a couple of cans of full fat coconut milk in a Dutch oven, added 4 or 5 tablespoons of green curry paste, added a serano pepper (this was not spicy enough for me, not even close), a bunch of basil (I only had regular, if I had planned this out better I would have gotten some Thai Basil and Thai Red Chilli’s, maybe some lime leaves, and lemongrass as well, but I made this on the fly), I tossed in the cooked chicken, some mushrooms, and red bell peppers. I didn’t eat it over anything (I’ve seen people do cauliflower rice, but my sister said she didn’t like it) it was good but not amazing.  It was pretty close though to the takeout we like, just not spicy enough (I like it HOT!)

Dinner another night was a Whole 30 compliant braut (I found these at Valley Natural, no sugar no added nitrates) sauerkraut, brussel sprouts, and smashed red potatoes. I think I may have had some salad too.

The Sauerkraut I use from Valley Natural.

I good pic of a yummy breakfast.  I got super full right away this morning.  After I finished the first egg I was ready to be done.  But I ate all the eggs and avocado as I have a hard time letting avocadoes go to waste (I just didn’t eat the sweet potatoes).

Homemade Mayo! I have NO idea why people buy mayo. This stuff is great and it’s SO easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 room temp egg

1 cup extra light olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice (I didn’t measure this, I just juiced a lemon)

1/2 teaspoon salt (I also didn’t measure this just estimated)

Put all ingredients together and blend with an immersion blender. Tah dah! Your done and you have amazing mayo.  I am going to make some cashew chicken salad with this.

Now, what you’ve been waiting for… Bison Meatballs!

Ingredients:

1.25 pounds of ground bison

1 egg

1/4 cup coconut flour

finely chopped fresh basil

1 onion chopped

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

onion powder

garlic powder

crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions:

Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees.

Sautee the onion and garlic in a pan with some avocado oil until soft.  Set aside in a paper towel to absorbe some of the liquid.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with your hands until mixed (be sure to not over-mix though because your meatballs will get tough.)

Make 1.5 inch in diameter balls and place on baking sheet (I got 12).  Bake for 25 minutes until cooked through.

I then added the balls to my Dutch oven with in this case tomato basil sauce (we “cheated” here, the hubs brought home this sauce from the restaurant but all ingredients are Whole 30 compliant). We let this sit to simmer, covered, for about 35 minutes while our spaghetti squash cooked.

We also had a yummy garden salad to start.

These meatballs are amazing, so go make them! (They would also be good with ground beef, we just wanted to try the bison.)

I hope you love these ideas as much as we do!

Have a happy weekend!

Leah

Weekly recap (through the 2nd week of the Whole30)

What’s up party people!

I thought I would start out this morning with a recap of how I actually feel. The first week if you look back was relatively easy especially regarding the food side of things (my running definitely wasn’t easy.) Outside of the extremely vivid dreams each night, I felt pretty normal. I was sleeping well, but I typically don’t have issues with my sleep unless I am drinking. Even one glass of wine seems to disturb my sleep. That week was very easy for me from a craving standpoint. I felt like I was eating pretty normal except, I never felt hungry, which is a HUGE benefit (even on the mornings I ran before work.)

This last week (week 2) was also pretty good but seemed a little more challenging. (It definitely was for my hubby who works in a restaurant, poor guy!) I didn’t feel like meal planning or cooking, which was why I struggled. My cravings weren’t bad though. The thing that bothers me the most are the constant pizza commercials on TV. Pizza is definitely something I miss and it will probably be the first splurge once I’m done (with a yummy glass of wine, the other thing I miss the most.)

I thought I would miss dairy more, specifically the half and half in my morning coffee and cheese (especially feta on my Greek salads.) I actually don’t miss the half and half at all. Now, I feel like I can really taste the yumminess of my coffee. I don’t miss the feta in my salad either. I did however miss the melty piece of cheese when we had burgers.

So here’s a list of how I feel and the changes I see:

1) I have a constant level of energy. It isn’t easy for me to get out of bed in the morning; that is still a struggle. But once I’m up I’m up. I don’t get tired during the day, not even at 3:00 p.m.

2) I’m only hungry when I’m supposed to be hungry, right before a meal. Like I mentioned earlier, normally, if I run before work I’m constantly hungry throughout the day. Or if I do a long run, I typically can’t eat enough after. (I’ll eat a meal then a couple hours later feel hungry again.)

3) My cravings and unhealthy relationship with food have changed. Typically, prior to starting the Whole 30, I would eat “super healthy” for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was typically oatmeal (I put quotations around the super healthy because the Whole 30 definition of healthy is different than how I used to define healthy, because grains (even oatmeal or quinoa) are a no-no) with plain Greek yogurt a dash of honey, some walnuts and berries. Or a green smoothie (lots of spinach, berries, ½ banana, almond butter, and almond milk.) Then lunch would be a Greek salad or some sort of salad with my homemade dressing and some protein (grilled chicken) or leftovers from the night before. I typically would make a good “healthy” dinner as well. But if I got home from work (and I was alone) and I didn’t go for a run ASAP, then I would snack, on all kinds of things, cheese, almond butter, whatever was around. If I had the motivation to workout ASAP, then I’d be okay. Dinner usually included wine, which would turn into 2 glasses. If we opened a bottle it was usually gone that night. There is something so comfortable and delicious about a glass of red wine. If the hubby closed on a given night, all bets were off. Weekends were also a free for all and pizza delivery was a regular thing (and dinners out).

Now, I cook everything. The only thing I can think of that I get that’s pre-done is the fresh Pico de Gallo I buy from Valley Natural Foods. They make it fresh daily and it’s just chopped tomatoes, red onion, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Otherwise, I cook everything which again, gets old, especially meal planning. But it’s nice to know exactly what I’m putting in my body. If I have a “snack” it’s spoonful of cashew butter or my little “treat” of berries with cashew butter and coconut flakes.

4) My sleep has improved. It’s now just a constant, I get tired when I should, I fall asleep right away, I may wake up once, but I go back to sleep right away, and I wake up well rested. I’m not sure if I’ve been talking in my sleep (something I do on a regular basis and have done since I started talking) but I haven’t been walking in my sleep (something that would happen maybe a couple times a month.)

Here’s what I did for running:

Monday: 4.25 miles on the treadmill after work – treadmill runs are always a b**** for me. Didn’t feel good.

Tuesday: 5 miles in the morning before work, on the treadmill – again, not great.

Wednesday: 4 miles outside after work. This was better but I definitely relate that to being outside. I was pretty cold though. The temp was over 20 degrees, maybe 22 or 23, but there was like 13 mph winds, so I think the feels like temp was around 13-15 degrees. I didn’t dress properly. I wore a somewhat thin layer of running tights, a long sleeve performance shirt with a short sleeved top over plus my running jacket (lightweight, wind breaker type thing in a shocking neon yellow color so peeps can see me), and a fleece headband. My upper body was okay but my legs were freezing! (Also the sun was setting.)

Thursday: 5 miles outside (I had a break in my day and was able to get out around 10 a.m.) It was sunny but similar temps to my prior run. This time I wore 2 pairs of running tights. I felt like I overdressed a bit this time. The first 2 miles sucked (especially the 2^nd because it was a constant hill climb and I was running directly against the wind. Once I turned the corner I felt much better.

I’m due to run 12 miles today (my half marathon is next week). However, I checked the forecast, it’s warm today (above 30) but it’s supposed to get super windy. So I’m going tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be warm again but much less wind. And I am nervous. I still need to come up with a fueling plan. I think I’m going to eat an egg and maybe a teaspoon of cashew butter pre-run (the Whole 30ers recommend a half serving of protein (1/2 of what you typically have in a full meal) and maybe a ½ serving of fat. So an egg and a teaspoon of cashew butter fill that bill. I am also going to bring along a peeled (without any skin) orange in a baggy and have that for mid-run fuel if I need it. I’m considering just getting it over with today, maybe on the treadmill (if I can find a good movie to watch during it) but we shall see.

My next post is going to include some food pics from the week along with a new recipe. (Something I came up with last night) Bison meatballs! These were SO SO good!

Chicken Puttenesca

I love love love this!!! I hope you all do too!

Chicken Puttenesca

Ingredients:

1 red onion (chopped

4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

600 grams cherry tomatoes

Good quality olives (green and kalamata)

Capers (check ingredients to make sure it’s Whole 30 compliant)

1 can of artichoke hearts chopped roughly (check ingredients to make sure it’s Whole 30 compliant)

Sun dried tomatoes in olive oil chopped roughly (check ingredients to make sure it’s Whole 30 compliant)

Chicken (I used two chicken breasts and two thighs)

Fresh basil (julienned on top)

Salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes

Here’s how:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

I sautéed the onion with the garlic and some olive oil in a Dutch oven and added some seasonings right away (salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes) over medium heat. Once the onion was translucent, I pushed it to the outside perimeter of the pan then added the raw chicken and seared it for a couple of minutes on each side. Then I took out the chicken and set aside. From there, I added the tomatoes, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes and let it cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat. I added the chicken back and made sure the sauce was well stirred. Cover and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir the sauce and chicken again and cook for another 20 minutes without the cover.

Top each portion with some fresh basil and voila!

My Whole 30 experience (so far) and trying to figure out how to train

This morning marks the start of day 10 which according to the Whole 30 team, is the hardest day and the day that those who end up quitting, quit on.

Ryan and I are still going strong though and have NO intentions of quitting.

I’m running the Securian 1/2 Marathon on January 24th.  I have done this in the past and it usually falls on a really cold day (and we’re talkin’ MN standards,) making it pretty challenging.  The race organizers have actually had to cancel the race in the past due to severe weather. (Hopefully that doesn’t happen this year.) I signed for this race prior to committing to the Whole 30.  My thought process was, I’ve done so many marathons and long training runs, 13.1 miles isn’t even what I consider a long run, this will give me a new challenge, yes, it will be hard for the first couple of weeks but the 1/2 isn’t until the start of week 4, I’ll be fine, I’ll power through and this will only make me stronger mentally, who needs all those carbs anyway… blah blah blah…

Well, I’m on day 10 and I have two long runs under my belt and four other runs since starting this.  Here a recap of those 10 days:

Whole30 Day 1 (Friday, January 2nd)

(Keep in mind, I am going off of memory, I didn’t take pictures of every single meal)

Breakfast – I’m pretty sure I had sweet potato hash with 3 eggs and some fruit.

Lunch – Salmon cake (I’ll share the recipe later) and big salad (greens, peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, kalamata olives, balsamic vinegar and olive oil)

Dinner – Beef stew with veggies. This was delicious.

Recap – I got hungry, really hungry before dinner (this is really the only time because I adjusted some of my portions.) I felt pretty decent though throughout the day.  I had the day off, so I did some grocery shopping and food prep and chores around the house. I didn’t work out.

Whole 30 Day 2

I slept decent the previous night although I do remember waking up a lot and I had a dream about a chocolate milk shake.

I had a 10 mile long run ahead of me.  I wasn’t sure what to eat and didn’t take the time to look up what the Whole 30 peeps recommend.  I had some super ripe bananas sitting out so I thought I’d have what I typically have pre-run, 1/2 banana with almond butter.  I had about 1/3 of the banana (it was so ripe it was mushy and I thought I was going to puke, I was so grossed out, I did however eat about a heaping teaspoon of almond butter.) I felt super low on energy during my run, but I kept on telling myself that this was normal and that I’ve felt a whole lot worse on long runs and that it was only 10 miles. The amazing this about this run was that I had no stomach issues during, and I am known to have stomach issues on runs.

Lunch: (breakfast) sweet potato hash, 3 eggs, 2 pieces of compliant bacon, 1/2 grapefruit. This was a great thing to have (I think based on how I felt). It kept me full until dinner.

Dinner: Ground beef taco’s with mango salsa and pico de gallo in radicchio leaves.  I don’t recommend the radicchio leaves because they are supper bitter.  I would recommend having romaine leaves or cabbage leaves instead . This was a challenging night.  Ryan and I got to babysit our super adorable and fun nephews.  I had the pleasure of making them quesadillas.  This was my first brush with major temptation. I love cheese and I love crispy, cheesy quesadillas.  We made it through though.  Thankfully our dinner was super yummy.  I was pretty bummed though because I couldn’t find any ripe avocadoes and I really wanted to have guacamole with it.

Whole 30 Day 3

Day 3 was pretty good!  Nothing special until my nephews birthday party.  I brought some slow cooked pork shoulder.  (I just rubbed a 3.5 lb pork shoulder with some coarse salt and pepper, garlic and onion powder, and coconut amino’s and I put it in a crock pot for 18 hours… it was amazing.) We had the pork with some salad.  We also had bowling league that night. That posed more temptation, but we did just fine!

Whole 30 Day 4

I’ve been sleeping really well since starting.  But I typically sleep well when I don’t have any alcohol. This was my first day of work since starting.  We woke up early to work out.  I ran 4 miles on the treadmill.  I didn’t have a lot of energy but I got through it.  Work went fine.  I didn’t feel hungry (and I typically do when I run in the morning.) That night we had the spaghetti squash Bolognese (recipe in last post.) That was really good!

Whole 30 Day 5

I’ve felt pretty good throughout this entire week. I made my favorite dinner so far, “Chicken Puttanesca”. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill after work.  I did some speed intervals and felt almost normal.  It was good! (I will share this recipe next!)

Whole 30 Day 6

I ran 3 miles after work today.  I remember this day because I had lunch around 12:30 p.m. and didn’t get home from work until around 7 p.m. I was hungry but not starving and I really wanted to run so I got those 3 miles in.  I made a roasted chicken with veggies and a salad and felt pretty good.

Whole 30 Day 7

Another good day.  I woke up early and ran 5 miles in the morning. Again, I did not feel very good during this run. The day went well though.  I had a really yummy salad with an avocado.  I felt satisfied for the rest of the night.  I had a committee meeting and felt fine even with the treats and wine that was served.  I also slept well this night.  It was the first night I didn’t have crazy wild dreams.

Whole 30 Day 8

This day started out okay.  I started to get a horrible headache towards the end of my work day.  When I got home, I tried resting a bit and it didn’t help. We had dinner plans that night. I will say having dinner out is not easy, especially when your nephew is devouring the bread and butter in front of you.  I took some Ibuprofen during dinner and I started to feel a little better. I went to bed early that night because I still didn’t feel 100%.

Whole 30 Day 9 (long run #2)

I woke up with that same raging headache but it was worse.  It was stemming from the base of my skull.  I also had a 12 mile run ahead me.  I have had a hard time figuring out what to eat before long runs, given my last long run.  I decided to do a full breakfast of eggs, sweet potato hash, guacamole, and blueberries.  Once I started my run, my legs felt like a pile of bricks and I felt like I had a brick in my stomach too.  At mile 4.2 I had to make an emergency pit stop and thankfully there was a place for me to stop right when I needed it.

I planned to run the first seven miles and then meet up with my cousin for the last five. I was ready to be done at mile seven, in a bad way. But my running partner was ready to go and I couldn’t back out when I saw her. She really kept me going and she kept telling me stories and really got me through those last five miles. At the 10 mile point I thought I was going to be sick but we walked a bit. I am so used to taking gels usually every 5 miles during a long run (anything over 10) and I didn’t this time of course. I brought an orange along with me but completely forgot about it when we starting the last five. I did make it to the finish though and I never got sick. Post run, I ate that orange immediately and when I got home I took a shower (when you run for 2 hours in 16 degree weather with a wind chill of zero, it is extremely important to get in a hot shower as soon as you can, or you FREEZE and all that sweat makes it even worse.) Waiting that long though to eat something with actual substance is not a good idea for me. I get sick to my stomach really easy so after that shower I was not up for eating a big meal. I ate one of my favorite Whole 30 approved treats, blueberries and blackberries topped with some cashew butter and coconut flakes. Later on I made a chicken coconut green curry. It was pretty good and pretty close to our favorite Thai takeout.

Whole 30 Day 10 (today)

I woke up early expecting to meet my sister for a recovery four miles. However, she had a late night (later than expected) and needed to back out. So I spent the morning drinking coffee and relaxing and once the hubby got up (he closed at work the night before and didn’t get to bed until after 2 a.m.) we did some more relaxing. It’s been a really nice day. I had an awesome breakfast of the leftover Bolognese sauce topped with raw sauerkraut and 3 eggs with a half grapefruit. And had a late lunch of a salad (mixed greens, romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, red pepper, olives, avocado, and a can of tuna with my homemade vinaigrette) and I feel really good.

I do need to get my poop in a group now and figure out what we’re going to eat this week! Planning and meal prep is super important when you’re doing the Whole 30. I am planning to get that puttanesca recipe up later tonight! I hope you’re all having a great weekend!

-Leah

p.s. follow me on instagram where I put pictures of most of my meals @leahtheorin

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

Here is the recipe I tried to put up earlier. I adapted this recipe from the book Practical Paleo.  I really love this book!

Ingredients:

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 4 slices of bacon (Bacon is tricky on the Whole30.  A lot of bacon has sugar in it so make sure there is no sugar.  Also, there can’t be any added nitrates.  Also, organic and pastured is best with all meat when doing the Whole30 but especially with really fatty cuts of meat.)
• 1/2 lb ground beef (organic and pastured is best)
• 1/2 lb ground pork (organic and pastured is best)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped (I like 2 cloves)
• 1 large carrot finely chopped
• 1 celery stock finely chopped
• 1/2 little can of tomato paste (make sure there isn’t sugar)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (the only ingredient should be tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
• Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

Spaghetti Squash:

• Preheat oven to ~400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Cut squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds
• Sprinkle with pepper and salt and place inside facing down on a baking sheet
• Bake for ~40 minutes until the flesh of the squash is tranluscent and you can easily scape out the “spaghetti” with a fork (let cool before handling though… it’ll be hot!

Bolognese:

• While the squash is baking, start by browning the bacon in a dutch oven (I didn’t start with this and I wish I did because then you can use the bacon fat to sauté the veggies.
• Once bacon is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside. Sauté the onions, garlic, carrot, and celery until softened.
• Add the ground beef, pork, and bacon and cook until brown.
• Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, coconut milk, and seasonings and cook over medium heat for ~10 minutes.
• Serve over the spaghetti squash and eat up! I hope you like it!

 

Dusting this thing off! (And an intro to the Whole30)

It has been close to 3 years since my last post.  As I’m sure you can guess, a lot has happened since that last post.  A couple more marathons, a new job which now includes me running my own business, and a husband, who is quite honestly, the greatest man ever! (I was even a running coach for Team Challenge last year for a bunch of newbies and vets who were training for a half marathon.) I’d say it’s been an amazing 3 years.

I’ve been thinking about this blog a lot over the last couple of months and how much I missed it and writing on a regular basis.  And since it’s a new year,  it seems like a great time to start.

Also, I’m doing this thing called the Whole30.  In a nutshell, it’s 30 days of super clean, paleo-style eating plan for 30 days.  No sugar (not even the natural kind, i.e. honey or molasses,) no alcohol, no grains of any kind, no dairy, no legumes. However, you can have meat, fish, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats with no calorie restrictions.  The only thing is that “they” only want you eating 3 meals a day, so they want you to have generous portions when you do eat.  So, back to the question that I’m sure is going through your mind, why on earth would someone do such a thing?  Well here is how it all went down.

One lazy Saturday night in December, one of my closest friends came over for a night of wine and Thai delivery, and well, girl talk.  Our upcoming trip to Mexico was a main topic of conversation.  I also went through how crappy I felt inside and out and how I needed to get in gear before I got back into my bikini.  (The last few years have also added some (lots of) extra pounds.) She told me about the Whole30, how it made her feel, how her relationship with food changed, and just how awesome she felt.  She and her roommate (another good friend) planned to do it in January.  She had me download the book, It Starts With Food, because “I had to read it to understand the ‘why’ behind the rules.”  For anyone considering doing the Whole30, I definitely also recommend reading it.

I’m on day 7 and it’s been great! My husband is doing it with me which really helps! I’ve had some really weird dreams (every single night, except last night).  But otherwise, life has been pretty normal.  So far, my favorite thing about it has been my motivation to get creative again in the kitchen.  I’ve made some awesome dishes and I am planning to share all the recipes here as I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from friends on social media to share.

Update:  I was almost finished with this post with a full recipe to share and something happened and it got deleted and I can’t figure out how to recover it.  I’m less than thrilled.  I will post the recipe for my Spaghetti Squash Bolognese when I have more time. Here is a really inadequate picture of it…

 I was delish though!

 

Well, until next time friends!

-Leah

 

 

You know you just ran a marathon when…

You walk down stairs like sumo wrestler … one step at a time

You have very interesting tan lines – like your first name down your arm perhaps, sports bra lines, and ankle/sock lines

You have scabs on your armpits, inner thighs, waist, and random other places (my booty, what?!?)

You get a cold/flu in the middle of spring

You fall asleep sitting up at your desk (or wait, I guess that is just me in general) 😉

You are hungry all the time (this could also just be me in general)

What did I miss?

Boston highlights to come (I just realized that I SUCK at taking pics… boo!)