Day 12

I love Sundays but I wish they were longer! I never feel like there is enough time to fit everything in. I woke up this morning feeling really sore and tired. CrossFit kicked my butt this week! I got out of bed around 8:45 and made breakfast before we headed to church. After Church I headed to my women's group. I got home around 3 super hungry (I hadn't eaten anything since 9:15) to find that Chad had eaten all the leftovers from last night. I ended up eating some red bell pepper and plantain chips, while remaking exactly what I had for breakfast this morning. You guessed it, breakfast cake, blueberries, and chicken sausage. Perhaps not the best choice, as my veggie intake today was minimal but it got the job done.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Im going to be more cautious with my intake this week. I plan to measure my protein portions and keep them to about 5oz per meal. I'm going to limit my nut intake to 1 serving/day and steer clear of the plantain chips. I'm really curious to see how this makes me feel. Again, I'm not feeling bad, but I'm certainly not feeling any leaner.

For dinner Chad requested "loaded sweet potato fries" in case you haven't noticed, we eat a ton of sweet potatoes. I ended getting a couple things working in the kitchen because I had to pack Chad breakfast and Lunch for tomorrow. We are heading to CrossFit at 7am and he'll have to leave for work straight from the gym. So I cooked up a lb of ground turkey, some breakfast sausage, and a small sweet potato. I also mixed up a breakfast cake that Chad can cook in the microwave at work. Here's what I packed him:

Chopped breakfast sausage
Breakfast cake
2tbsp cashew butter
Plantain chips
Larabar
Ground turkey
Mixed green salad w/ salsa for dressing

I'm hoping that will keep him satisfied until he gets home tomorrow night. What I would like to do is cut back on the snacks and pack him a more substantial lunch, but we'll see how this works out tomorrow.

I served Chad sweet potato fries topped with ground turkey and my homemade ketchup, and a salad on the side. For myself I sautéed some cabbage and broccoli slaw mix and added ground turkey and left over sauce from the lettuce wraps I made a few days back. We were both satisfied and are now lounging in our comfy chair, soaking up the last few hours of our Sunday.

Day 11

What a beautiful Saturday it has been! Today I hopped out of bed around 8 and cooked breakfast for Chad and I. I headed to CrossFit at 10 and Today's WOD was:

Handsome Jay
1 round
10x Handstand push-ups
20x Knees to elbows
30x Burpees
40x Box jumps
50x Dips
60x Pull-ups
70x Push-ups
80x Sit-ups
90x Squats
100x Double-unders

It was BRUTAL! I am so looking forward to taking tomorrow off. Chad finished his second intro class today so that means we can now go to CrossFit together. I am really looking forward to spending our mornings together again!

 After workout I headed home and scrambled up an egg and some egg whites with salsa and avocado for lunch.  I also had a few bites of leftover chicken. Then I cut up some chicken breast and got them marinating in wing sauce. When Chad got home he finished off the leftovers and then we headed to his cousins house to play with her new puppy.

We left her house  around 4:30pm and had to scramble because our friends Matt and Aubrey were coming over for dinner. When we got home I turned the oven to 400 and threw 4 sweet potatoes in. I made salad dressing with dijon mustard, olive oil, fresh garlic, honey, balsamic vinegar, and S&P. Then I chopped up half a jalepeno and cooked two pieces of bacon. Once cooked, I finely chopped the bacon and added it back to the pan with the jalepenos and 2 tsps of honey. This makes a great topping for the sweet potatoes.  While the chicken was grilling I made a dipping sauce with tomato paste and wing sauce. Then chopped up a red bell pepper and added it to some mixed greens for our salad. Overall this was a really simple meal but it was great! Aubrey treated us to some awesome paleo cookies, which was a wonderful treat since we haven't had sweets since starting the challenge. Here is her recipe Cookies
 (thanks for the pic Aubs!)
 

Supplements

I've spent a great deal of time researching supplements, though I must say, I'm not good at taking them. Over the last week I've been trying to get myself in the habit because I truly believe in the benefits. So here is what I'm currently taking:

Vitamin D: Research is connecting low Vit D levels to much more than bone loss. Deficiencies have been linked to cancer, specifically skin and breast; fatigue, autoimmune disease, and heart disease. Last year I had my Vit D level checked because I was experiencing extreme fatigue, it was 20, which is pretty low. I was put on 50,000 IUs/wk to raise it. I never ended up having it rechecked but I plan to in about a month. According to Dr. Mercola the optimal Vit D level is 50-70ng/ml but levels can safely go as high as 100ng/ml. The Np I've been shadowing suggested I take 10,000 IUs/ day but I currently only have 1,000 IUs caps, so I've been taking 5,000 IUs/day.

Fish oil: this is a powerful anti-inflammatory and inflammation contributes to everything from asthma to arthritis. It is also important for a developing fetus' brain development, so mamas to be need to take it. It is essential to find a supplement that contains the correct amount of DHA and EPA (together they should be 700). I take 3 capsules/day to get this amount.

Probiotics: Our immune system is contained in our gut. When we are breast fed as infants, our mother's milk colonizes our gut with bacteria that are the building blocks of our immune system. Poor diet and antibiotic use contribute to depletion of our "good bacteria." Taking probiotics helps keep the body balanced. I take 1 capsule that has 20 million live cultures.

I'm sure I'll end up adding more to the mix, but for now, eating clean and taking the supplements listed above is a great start. Make sure that you look for the USP label on any supplements you consider taking unless they are neutraceutical grade. USP is sorta like the FDA of supplements.

Day 10

As you may or may not know, I have a passion for integrative medicine, and especially as it pertains to women's health. I truly believe that healthcare providers as too focused on treating symptoms rather than finding the root causes of illness, mainly because there simply isn't time in the conventional medical model. I feel so blessed to be learning a holistic way to treat my patients, but it seems the more I learn, the less I feel like I know. I spent today shadowing an amazing nurse practitioner who works a great deal with bioindentical hormone therapy, thyroid disorders, and adrenal deficiency. I'm so excited to be learning all this, but I'm overwhelmed by all the information.

I got up around 6:30 this morning and got the coffee going. I packed Chad a bunch of snacks for the day and made breakfast before scrambling to get dressed. In my haste I left the house without packing any food for myself. Luckily I had a Larabar in my bag so I noshed on that around 11am and didn't get home from the clinic until after 3. I was starving by that point to so grabbed a whole bad of frozen cauliflower that I'd defrosted in the fridge, and threw it in a skillet with the chicken from last night. Once it was warm I topped the mixture with broccoli slaw mix and chowed down. Then, almost reflexively, I had a tbsp of cashew butter and some plantain chips.

I headed to CrossFit at 5:30 (just barely enough time to digest that huge meal). For our strength exercise we did deadlifts 5 sets of 3 reps. I ended up doing 165lbs. The WOD was

1 min thrusters
1 min pullups
1 min rest
X3
It was more challenging than I'd anticipated. Then we did box jumps 30 secs on, 30 rest X 5 sets.

I was thrilled when Chad called and asked me to meet him at Burger Up for dinner. I ordered a bison burger topped with lettuce, tomato, pickled beets, onions, and a fried egg, with sweet potato fries on the side. I REALLY wanted a glass of wine but I resisted (go me!). Instead I had a cup of coffee when I got home, hey I'm not perfect!