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Whole30 Challenge - Day 30


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WE DID IT!!

Cue the music and confetti -- we have officially completed the whole30 challenge and I feel great!  Let's celebrate the end of the the challenge with two random cat pictures since it is Random Cat Picture Tuesday!!


Today ended up being super busy.  I had some unexpected errands take up my whole afternoon so I didn't get in a great lunch, but dinner more than made up for it!  

On the workout front this week - my back is still giving me trouble.  I went to the chiropractor this afternoon and still haven't had much relief.  I'll have to miss yoga tonight and crossfire tomorrow.  I'm hoping it will feel good enough to at least mow tomorrow, but I'm playing it by ear.  

Today's Spirit:  Happy and my energy is back!  Woot!

Today's Food:  I didn't eat as much as I should have for lunch, but breakfast & dinner were solid.

Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, hardboiled
  • small handful of almonds & cashews
  • water

Meal 2:
  • apple & blueberry bar from Starbucks
  • coffee, black (not pictured)
  • a big spoonful of almond butter (not pictured)

Meal 3:
  • grilled sirloin steak (sunny paris seasoning, salt, pepper)
  • roasted brussels (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • roasted butternut squash with ghee (ghee, pepper)
  • coconut water (it didn't go with the rest of the food, so I switched to water)

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 29


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Today wasn't great.  I was super tired all day and my lower back is out of whack. The good thing is now when I have bad days I no longer go to food for comfort or relief!  I'm learning that bad days will happen and I don't need to turn to food to get through them.

Today's Spirit:  Very tired and sluggish

Today's Food:  Ok - leftovers made breakfast and lunch a breeze.  When I pulled out the ground sausage to add to our soup for dinner, I noticed that there was a sticker that said sugar was added.  I'm glad they called out the added sugar, but I'm disappointed I didn't see it when I bought it.  It's currently in freezer until I figure out what to do with it.

 Meal 1:
  • 2 bacon & egg cups
  • strawberries
  • coffee, black

 Meal 2:
  • leftover macadamia nut chicken tenders
  • roasted brussels (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • water

Meal 3:



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Whole30 Week 4 Thoughts


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We're happy to have completed week 4!
 Please ignore the bad lighting.  :)
Week 4 is complete and there are only 2 days left of the challenge!  I feel like the last week went fast and was pretty easy.  Is it okay to say that?  :)  I think a major reason I feel like it was easier was because I meal prepped last Sunday.

  • Meal prep day was crucial to making weeknight dinners seem easier and helped with clean-up. This will be added to my weekly routine.  
  • Meal planning started to get harder this week.  I'm not exactly sure why - I have a ton of recipes pinned on pinterest and have the whole internet at my disposal so I'm not sure what my problem was.  
  • I'm getting accustumed to the extra time spent shopping.
  • I feel a bit 'backed-up' this week.  Hoping some Natural Calm will help that. :)
  • Found out that coconut water is pretty good.  I've tried it pre-whole30 and thought it was awful, but now that my tastebuds have reset from the sugar overload it's not so bad.  It's amazing how sensitive your tastebuds become to sweetness once you aren't overloading them. 

This was another good week.  Here is to 2 more days and then a 90-10 rule with whole30 eating going forward!! 

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 28


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TWO DAYS LEFT!!!
The time is flying by!  I know that on day 31 (Wednesday) I will be treating myself to a latte and then continue eating whole30 for the rest of the week.  Matt and I will be going out to eat somewhere on Friday evening and then get right back on track Saturday morning. 

Today was an action packed day!  We saved 2 frogs and went glow-in-the-dark mini-golf.  It's was a close one - we played 36 holes and Matt beat me by only 1!

Look at those frogs!  They are now happily eating & swimming
in the nearby farm marsh. 

Today's Spirit:  Still a bit tired, but happy

Today's Food: Yummy!


Meal 1:
  • banana 
  • almond butter
  • coffee, black

Meal 2:
  • chiptole carnitas salad (no dressing, no veggies, no beans, no cheese, no rice) 
  • water

Meal 3:
  • sweet potato, green apple, onion, sweet potato, & aidell's chicken and apple sausage hash
  • roasted carrots (evoo, salt, peper) 
  • water






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Whole30 Challenge - Day 27


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Did anyone see the Northern Lights last night?!  Matt and I were on a mission to see them, but they were too elusive for us.  We drove 45-50 minutes northwest of Grimes on gravel roads - boy that was an adventure in itself!

Today Matt tackled the task of painting our living room, while I did the food prep for the upcoming week.  The living room has been the same color for 9 years, so it's definitely time for an update.  The color we chose is nice and fresh which means the kitchen color needs to be refreshed soon so that the colors flow nicely.  I'll post some before/after pictures as soon as we get the living room back together - Matt rocked it and did an awesome job!!

Today's Spirit:  Tired - I'm wondering where all my energy went

Today's Food:  Good, except I forgot to spray the muffin pan for the bacon & egg cups.  Egg is impossible to clean!  The pan is going through a second deep soaking.

 Meal 1:
  • bacon & egg cups
  • raspberries
  • water
  • coffee, black (not shown because it was in my belly!)

 Meal 2:
  • organic, all-beef hotdog
  • roasted carrots (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • water

Meal 3:



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Whole30 Challenge - Day 26


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I'm having a problem coming up with a menu for next week - I'm going through a slump with menu planning.  It might be time to just start rotating the menu's I have created up until this point, but I'm really hoping to get at least one more week of different meals created before I start rotating.  

 My stomach was a bit off this afternoon, so I didn't have much of a lunch.  I'm not sure what the problem was but it has seemed to have resolved itself in time for dinner. 

 Today's Spirit:  A bit tired 

 Today's Food:  Great - I tried a new recipe for dinner and it was delicious! 

 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, scrambled in a little ghee
  • gala apple 
  • almond butter
  • starbuck's americano, black
  • water

 Meal 2:
  • 1/2 hotdog
  • roasted sweet potato (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • water

Meal 3:


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Whole30 Challenge - Day 25


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5 days left!!  

Today was a beautiful fall day...oh wait, what?  It's still summer.  Weird.  I love fall so if the rest of the summer feels like today I'll be super happy.

The only downside to today's weather is that it made me really want a hot chocolate.  You know the one from Caribou Coffee that was whip cream and mini chocolate chips...yeah one of those.  I settled for a couple mugs of hot green tea, but it just wasn't the same.

I did make it to spin class today and it was great.  I worked hard and sweated buckets!  I'm planning to do the same thing next week - Yoga on Tuesday and Spin on Thursday.

Today's Spirit:  Energetic and happy
Today's Food:  Pretty good - I'm over asparagus for awhile

 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, hardboiled
  • small handful almonds and cashews
  • water

 Meal 2:
  • spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese
  • roasted asparagus & chocolate roasted cauliflower
  • water

Meal 3:
  • 1.5 applegate organic all beef hotdogs with mustard
  • roasted sweet potato (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • water



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Whole30 Challenge - Day 24


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At this point I feel like eating the Whole30 way isn't a big deal.  I don't feel like it's too much of a struggle and although I will probably always want a chocolatey caramel-y something or other, it's much easier not to have one.  

I think the next challenge will be to allow myself to have a 'treat', but only one and not make it an everyday thing.  I'm good with strict rules, but have a lot of trouble with moderation.

Today's Spirit:  Energy levels at medium, pretty happy

Today's Food:  Yummy!


 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, scrambled in a little ghee
  • 1/2 avocado
  • raspberries
  • coffee, black
  • water

 Meal 2:
  • spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese
  • roasted asparagus (evoo, salt, pepper, garlic powder)
  • water

Meal 3:
  • spaghetti squash pie (spaghetti squash, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, marinara sauce - very yummy!)
  • meatballs
  • grapes
  • water

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 23


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It's random cat picture Tuesday!!
Plus a handsome husband!
Moeki get's so happy to see Matt that he drools all over. 

I'd say it's an extremely successful day when the hardest decision of your entire day is what color to paint your toenails before yoga.  I went with a plum-raspberry color.  :) 

Yoga was good!  I'm a bit out of shape right now, so it's good to get back into something.

Only 7 days left of the challenge!  Really only 6 since I'm done eating tonight.

Today's Spirit:  Happy and energetic

Today's Food:   Fast and easy!  Still rocking the leftovers and loving the sunday prep - the only thing I had to do for dinner tonight besides nuke the spaghetti squash & bolognese was roast asparagus.


 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, hardboiled
  • small handful of nuts (cashews & almonds)
  • water

 Meal 2:
  • grilled hamburger with lettuce, tomato, & guacamole
  • roasted carrots
  • la croix cran-raspberry sparkling water

 Meal 3:
  • spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese
  • roasted asparagus (evoo, salt, pepper, garlic powder)
  • water


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Whole30 Challenge - Day 22


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It's a gloomy Monday around here today and sometimes a gloomy day is just what you need.  I think I'm a bit gloomy today - I'm not as energetic as usual, but I'm not completely blah and in a pretty good mood.

If my life was a comic today I wouldn't have sunshine over my head, but I wouldn't have a thunderstorm either.

On a side note, I really need to up my workouts...as in do more than just mowing the yard, grocery shopping, and cleaning.   I'm hoping to do Yoga Tuesday and Spin Thursday.  I'll let you know how that goes.    

Today's Spirit:  A bit tired, happy more-or-less

Today's Food:  Good, tried a new way to eat cauliflower


 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, scrambled in a little ghee
  • 1/2 avocado
  • raspberries
  • coffee, black

 Meal 2:

Meal 3:
  • grilled hamburgers with guacamole, tomato, & romaine lettuce
  • cocoa-roasted cauliflower (it was different, but very good)
  • 1/2 la croix cran-raspberry sparkling water

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Whole30 Week 3 Thoughts


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Week 3 is complete!!  Ooooh Ye-ah!!

This week flew by.  I don't feel like I struggled very much this week with cravings or all the work associated with cooking all. the. time. 

One thing that really helped me out this week was all the meal prep I did on Monday.  All the veggies were roasted, so all I had to do was nuke them and focus on the main part of the meal.  

To *hopefully* continue the ease from last week to the upcoming week I spent today meal prepping. 
  • made turkey bolognese with ground turkey, onions, green peppers, garlic, mushrooms, marinara sauce, and spices.
  • roasted spaghetti squash to go along with the turkey bolognese
  • roasted carrots (evoo, salt, & pepper)
  • hard boiled eggs
  • scrambled eggs (for the husband's breakfasts)
  • made hamburger patties so they are ready to throw on the grill
  • washed all new fruits and vegetables so they are ready to grab and eat



I'm pumped for week 4!

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 21


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Today was a pretty great day. I spent most of the day prepping for the upcoming week...with the windows down! The weather today was perfect. Having the windows open did make my allergies worse, but a zyrtec took care of that mess.

 I took some pictures during my prep session that I will post in my weekly recap.  Not only did I do meal prep today, I also mowed our lawn.  It's hard to keep up with the grass - it's growing like a weed.  Usually, by this time of year we are mowing once every other week - but this season we almost have to mow it twice a week.

Today's Spirit:  Energetic, happy, cramps are better this cycle

Today's Food:  Just ok - we really needed to make a grocery run so breakfast was a bit sparse.  I missed lunch again because I worked through it.  Dinner was good.  :)

 Meal 1:
  • 1 egg, scrambled (ghee, salt, pepper)
  • spinach & garlic turkey sausage
  • pineapple
  • water


 Meal 2: (this is a weak 'meal')
  • raw almonds
  • 1 slice of dried pineapple

Meal 3:
  • sweet potato, granny smith apple, white onion, aidell's chicken & apple sausage (everything sautéed in coconut oil)
  • orange la croix (leftover from last night)



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Whole30 Challenge - Day 20


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Day 20, people!!!!  We've made it 2/3 of the way and the finish line is in site!  I finally finished my menu plan & grocery list for next week.  I'll do the grocery shopping and food prepping tomorrow.

Today's Spirit:  Not great - tired, blah, grumpy, back pain, crampy

Today's Food:  Still rocking the leftovers!  The only thing that I had to really cook was a sweet potato and the husbs took care of that.



Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, scrambled
  • small banana 
  • almond butter
  • coffee, black
  • water

 Meal 2:
  • garlic & spinach chicken italian sausage
  • roasted brussels (ghee, salt, pepper)
  • watermelon
  • water

  Meal 3:
  • 1/2 sweet potato
  • chocolate chili 
  • roasted brussels (ghee, salt, pepper)
  • water





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Whole30 Challenge - Day 19


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Today was bit better.  My energy levels were better than yesterday, although I was still pretty grumpy and irritable.

I did have enough energy to wash down the walls of my living room.  One step closer to re-painting!

Today's Spirit:  Energy levels returning, still grumpy

Today's Food:  Good, fast, and easy to put together.  Leftovers are rocking my world right now.


 Meal 1:
  • 2 eggs, over-easy (cooked in a bit of evoo, salt, pepper)
  • 1/2 avocado, diced 
  • pineapple
  • starbucks grande americano 
  • water 

 Meal 2:
  • kalua pig leftovers
  • roasted brussels with bacon (ghee, salt, pepper, bacon)
  • water

Meal 3:
  • garlic & spinach italian chicken sausage
  • roasted green beans (evoo, garlic powder, salt)
  • watermelon
  • water

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 18


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I was hoping I'd sneak by this month with little to no PMS symptoms since I've been eating better, but it hit me today.  Although, I will admit it's a little better than usual - still not great though. 

I'm also finding it very hard to come up with a menu for next week - I'm hoping that's just because I'm in a funk today and that I'll be better tomorrow.   Here's hoping the next week goes quickly.  :)

Today's Spirit:  Tired, grumpy, easily irritated, blah, craving chocolate

Today's Food:  Fast and easy.  Everything was a leftover!  Clean up was a breeze.  Did I mention I'm craving chocolate again...


 Meal 1:
  • egg veggie hash (sweet potatoes, green beans, spinach, eggs)
  • italian chicken sausage
  • water

Meal 2:
  • grilled sirloin steak 
  • roasted brussels (evoo, salt, pepper)
  • watermelon 
  • water


Meal 3:
  • chocolate chili 
  • roasted green beans (evoo, garlic powder, salt)
  • strawberries
  • berry la croix

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Whole30 Challenge - Day 17


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I did the math and I have made 48 homemade meals in the last 17 days!  That's crazy!  It does seem to be getting easier and I *think* I'm getting quicker in the kitchen.

I still haven't made a menu for next week, so I need to get that done very soon.

Today's Spirit:  Broken record again....happy and very energetic

Today's Food:  Great!  I made an egg veggie hash for the whole week and that makes breakfast super easy and fast.


 Meal 1:
  • egg veggie hash (eggs, sweet potato, spinach, green beans, salt, pepper, cooked in coconut oil)
  • italian chicken sausage
  • strawberries
  • water

Meal 2:

Meal 3:  I forgot to take a picture of my meal, but here is a picture of my husband's lunch for tomorow - it's a replica of what I ate except I had less guacamole.
  • pulled pork salads (kalua pig, romaine lettuce, homemade salsa, & guacamole)
  • watermelon
  • water


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