Monday, November 18, 2013

Clean Eating - Day 13 & 14

Greetings again friends and followers!

I'm double posting days this weekend because we were VERY busy with some social things (not to brag or nothing ...) We had lots of opportunities to be tempted this weekend and I am very proud to say that we did NOT give in! We may have eaten a little heavier/a little more than we would during the week, but we did not cheat. Here's what happened:

Saturday we had a relaxing morning until we went to the gym. There I promptly kicked both my and Ryan's butts with an amazing workout I got off this website: http://www.pbfingers.com/work-it-out/circuit-workouts/  More on this later.

That afternoon, we went to a Bob's Burgers themed birthday cookout. (Bob's Burgers is a hilarious TV show, in case you don't know.) Everyone else was having burgers, so we didn't deprive ourselves. We got some grass fed burger patties, seasoned them ourselves, and brought them along. I made my cucumber and onion salad for a side. Instead of mayo and a bun around my burger, I went with vegetables. It was still quite delicious. We drank sparkling water instead of beer, and left feeling great.

Then we went to see our friend kick butt in her Wind Symphony Recital at Texas State. (Yeah, Sharodon!) Afterward, her parents were very generous in taking us all out to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. We didn't order alcohol (Ryan had water, I had tea). We did NOT eat the fresh rolls on the table, which was surprisingly easier than I thought. Don't get me wrong, they looked good, but I didn't crave them like I thought I would. Instead we ate the peanuts on the table. I had a grilled shrimp appetizer over salsa and avocado slices. I specified that the shrimp be made with no butter. The appetizer ended up coming with tortilla chips, but I did NOT eat them (WOAH - who am I?) and set them on the other end of the table so I wouldn't be tempted. Ryan had sirloin with vegetables and a sweet potato, all without butter. This was the first time we had been out to a restaurant since we started this challenge so I consider this a BIG WIN.

Sunday our friend Jonathan invited us over for a birthday brunch for our friend Danielle (not me, but an equally cool Danielle). He was making homemade mac and cheese, we were told. So, we had a filling yummy brunch before we went so we wouldn't be hungry when this deliciousness was being made. When we got there, I found out it was homemade pork belly mac and cheese. Are you joking? This stuff smelled ridiculously good. But we sipped our sparkling water and said no. They also had cake, the jerks. We said no to that too.

As if that wasn't enough, a house full of four of our lovely friends had their annual "Faux-giving" dinner. A big potluck with holiday food, drinks and friends. It's one of Ryan's favorite Thanksgiving traditions, and I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. Since we knew there would be a lot of unhealthy options, we made roasted Brussels sprouts (recipe below). We also brought the pork curry we made Friday night, so we would have healthy things to eat. We also allowed ourselves some turkey and smoked pork shoulder even though we figured it may have some butter in it. Still, we said no to MANY a delicious holiday side (ex. sweet potato casserole, twice baked mashed potato casserole) and dessert (apple pie, buttermilk pie, cookies). And we still didn't have an alcoholic beverage. And rather than leaving the party in a food coma like you do after most holiday functions, we left feeling energetic and comfortable.

In every single one of those situations, a former version of me would have crumbled and had a glass of wine or two. Which would have then lead to dessert and at least tasting those delicious sides. But to be honest, it was nice to make these situations about the friendship and quality time without it revolving around drinking and unhealthy food. It felt really empowering to make good decisions even when I was surrounded by the opportunities to make bad ones. I'm not saying I'll ALWAYS do that. But it's really reassuring to know that I CAN.  If I didn't have confidence in my ability to say no to food, I certainly do now. And YOU CAN TOO. Once you say no the first time, it gets easier, I promise. Remember why you're doing what you're doing. Focus on the results you've seen so far. And if you don't feel strong enough to do it alone, ask a friend that's there to hold you accountable.

Here's the food log, though it now seems a little redundant.  But it's here for you special readers!

Day 13
8:30am - Rise and Shine

9:30am - Apple Cinnamon Protein Shake

11am-12pm - Workout (See below for info)

12:45pm - Grilled chorizo with eggs and salsa (just what it sounds like, though we got organic chorizo). Water.

5:00pm - Grilled hamburgers seasoned to taste with tomato, onion & baby spinach on top. Cucumber and onion salad (see day 9 for recipe). Sparkling water.

10:00pm - Grilled shrimp over tomato and avocado salsa (Logan's roadhouse recipe). Peanuts. Iced tea with lemon.

12:30pm - Bedtime

Day 14
7:00am - Rise and Shine

7:45am - Apple Cinnamon Shake

11:00am - Grilled chorizo with eggs, salsa and guacamole. Water.

2:15-3:15pm - Naptime (I was quite sleepy after waking up early)

5:30pm - Tortilla chips (gluten free and no preservatives) with guacamole). Roasted turkey, smoked turkey, and smoked pork shoulder. Pork curry. Roasted Brussels Sprouts (see below for recipe). Green beans with almonds. Sparkling water.

10:00pm - Homemade popcorn with olive oil. Water.

11:30pm - Bedtime

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking pan with spray or line with parchment paper. Chop 1 lb. Brussels sprouts in half. Add 1 lb peeled pearl onions (we couldn't find these at our grocery store, so we used regular white onions), 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Put veggies on pan. Roast until Brussels sprouts for 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sliced almonds on top. Roasted until sprouts are crispy, about another 20 minutes.

And last but not least, our Saturday workout - I mentioned I got the workout from pbfingers.com. Now, many of her workouts are VERY challenging, but there are always modifications you can do. Keep reading to see what I mean. Here's what we did:

- 15-20 minutes of cardio warm-up on the treadmill. Get your heart rate up! Intervals are the best way to do this if you can't go all out for 15-20 minutes (I know I can't yet). Work hard for a minute, let your heart rate come down for 3 minutes. Repeat.
- Circuit 1 (repeat 3 times with 2 minutes rest in between)
        25 Deadlifts with 12-15 lb. dumbell
        20 Hamstring stability ball curls
        20 Chest presses on stability ball with 15-20 lb. hand weights (1 weight in each hand)
        15 lunges (each leg) holding 15-20 lb. hand weights (1 weight in each hand)
- Circuit 2 (repeat 2 times with 2 minutes rest in between)
        20 jump squats
        20 kettle bell swings with 15-20 lb. kettle bell
        1 minute mountain climbers
        10 pushups
- 5 minute cool down (this keeps your muscles from getting tense and lets your heart rate come down gradually)
- STRETCH (I can't emphasize the importance of this enough.)

YEAH. This workout was INTENSE. Altogether, it took us just a little over an hour including stretching and cool down. (By the way, if you can't figure out what some of these exercises look like, message me or comment and I will explain.) But let me talk about modifications. If you look at her original workout here: http://www.pbfingers.com/2011/11/17/strength-heavy-circuit-workout/  you can see that her version was even more challenging. Heavier weights and in some cases, altered exercises. Knowing that our current fitness level is not amazing, I modified to fit our needs. Instead of doing 50 mountain climbers like she recommended (DEAR GOD), we did them for a minute (rather slowly, but still moving). Instead of doing pushups with a leg lift, which I don't think I can even do, I just did pushups. I adjusted the workout to fit OUR fitness level. This can be done with almost anything. If you have knee problems, and can't do jump squats, maybe you can just do jump ups, or step ups even. Maybe you can just do squats. Maybe you can't do lunges, but you can do squats. Just because you're changing a workout you found, doesn't mean it's not going to be effective. As long as you're working with the same muscle group, you're good. You'll get to those harder exercises or heavier weights eventually.

And another thing - don't let your current level of fitness keep you from getting to your goal. Everyone has to start somewhere. Where you are now shouldn't discourage you. The fact that you are working to improve your current situation should INSPIRE you. Don't get in your own way. A negative mindset can and will harm your workouts. Tell yourself you can do it and you WILL. :)

That's all for today! We're getting close to the end of this and I can't be more thankful for all your support! Love, health and harmony to you all!




1 comment:

  1. Holy @$*#(@! The self control you exhibited is insane. I'm CRAZY proud of you. And thanks for the reference to Day 9... I was about to ask for the recipe for that Cucumber and Onion Salad.

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