Whole30 - Day 1

This weekend, I spent every free minute reading this book...

I was captivated with the ideas and theories presented in it.  You can read more about it at their website.  I've found lots of great info on their to supplement what's included in the book.  

The book includes a 30 day challenge, called Whole30 where you go 30 days with no grains, no sugar, no alcohol, no legumes, no white potatoes, and no dairy--very similar to the paleo diet, only a bit more strict.  There's no paleo-ified junk food replacements allowed.  It encourages you to stick with 3 big meals a day centered around meat, produce, and fats.  

The ideas that appealed to me were the opportunity to "reset" my body and digestion, a chance to balance out my hormones, the opportunity to get in touch with my hunger signals again rather than my all-day graze-fests, and eliminate the junk from my diet...I was getting a little carried away.  I decided to go "all in" and start the challenge today.  It's only 30 days...I can do this!!  I'm curious to see how my little "experiment" works out. 

Breakfast included 3 eggs scrambled with a giant handful of spinach and half an avocado, diced and topped with hot sauce, of course.  I had half a grapefruit on the side too.  

It was filling and delicious...but I was hungry again by 11.  Hopefully that improves...but in the meantime...I downed lots of water and planned a very big lunch.

For lunch I had a turkey burger, some broccolini sauteed in olive oil, and a tomato, avocado and balsamic salad.  I also ended up eating most of the boys' leftover mango too.

I'm planning to go out to eat for dinner but already have a game plan in mind for the greek restaurant--greek salad, skip the feta, olive oil and vinegar for dressing, topped with a piece of grilled salmon as long as they don't marinade the salmon in anything crazy.  Maybe I'll throw a can of tuna in my purse just in case...haha.  Just kidding!  

Enough food talk.  We've done other fun stuff besides eating today...

We kicked off our morning at Story Time where we were supposed to have a special guest but our firefighter got called into duty so we stuck with Firefighter books instead. We read...

...and...

Both were big hits with the kiddos.  I especially liked Tony Mitton's rhymes and Ant Parker's illustrations in Flashing Fire Engines.

We hit up the gym after Story Time.  I was feeling pretty un-energetic so I took my legs workout over to the elliptical for some circuits.  Usually the speed of them keeps me from feeling too tortured.  I warmed up for a mile before alternation quarter miles on the elliptical with the following legs circuits using dumbbells.  I repeated each circuit 4 times.  

Circuit 1:

Squats - 20

Deadlifts - 20

Lunges - 20

Circuit 2:

Squat with Side Kicks - 10 each

Side to Side lunges - 20

Curtsey lunges - 10 each

I finished up with another mile as my cool down and called it a day.  Hopefully I'm feeling more energetic tomorrow.

We've spent the rest of our day around the house, getting some chores done...while keeping an eye on last night's episode the bachelorette.  The first episode doesn't require your full attention anyways :-)

Solo Story Time and Other Tuesday Happenings

This time change is doing crazy things to my kiddos.  They slept til 8:40 this morning, which is really only 7:40 before the time change, but it's amazing what a difference an hour makes.  Thankfully Leah was here to man the troops while I went to lead Story Time solo.  I have to admit..it was actually quite nice to be able to just lead story time without having to worry about keeping an eye on the boys as well.     ..so thanks to Leah for a bit of a break.  Today's featured stories were...

The boys can read this one to you.  They love it and so did all of the kids at story time. 

This is a new favorite of ours, picked up from the amazing book store in Vero.  I'm pretty sure I remember reading it as a kid myself.  I love classics!  It was a hit.

After Story Time, I swung by the house to pick up the boys for Music Class.  We had fun, as always.  The piano is always a big hit, even if only used for crawling under and around...

It's hard to believe the semester is almost over. We love music class!

We spent the rest of our morning exploring the big scary waves at the beach and looking at the shells on the sand.  It wasn't the most beautiful beach day, but you know what they say... "if you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough."

Leah's so good with the boys.

Leah and I kept the boys safe from the scary waves.

I also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the gym for some intervals on the elliptical while reading my new Jodi Picoult book...

So far it's really good.  I also squeezed in some lower body work on the machines.  I'm normally a free weights girl but it was nice to change it up a little today.  

And after a bike ride with the boys, I had some fun in the kitchen trying out a new recipe for butternut squash enchiladas.  It was delicious!!  Her's were definitely prettier than mine so check out her picture from her blog.  They did taste just as delicious as hers look, however.  I highly recommend trying it out.  

Time for some bracelet making with the sister.  Can't believe her stay is coming to an end...so sad!

Fresh Start

Today is a new day, a fresh start, and things are looking up!  Thank goodness.  The boys woke up happy and I was able to get a good night's sleep as well.  That combo makes for a much better start to the day.  We enjoyed some banana protein pancakes before loading up the stroller to head to the gym.

My banana protein pancakes are made by combing the following in a bowl:

• 2 small bananas
• 2 scoops Vanilla SunWarrior Protein Powder
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup oatbran
• 2 T flaxseed
• Enough almond milk to get the consistency of pancake batter
• 1 pinch of cinnamon

I blend it all together using my immersion blender and then cook the cakes up on my griddle just like regular pancakes.  It's super easy and super healthy.  My boys love them too! I enjoyed mine topped with natural peanut butter and a splash of real maple syrup.  Pair with a steaming cup of coffee, it was the perfect start to my day.

Speaking of coffee, I have discovered a non-dairy, non-soy cream substitute for my coffe which is the next best thing to half and half.

Source 

I found it at Whole Foods and I've heard the Fresh Market has it too.  I will be checking that fact out in the near future.

Being able to go the a gym that has child care is the biggest blessing these days.  I love running with the stroller, but it sure is nice to be able to do my own thing in the gym while knowing my kids are having a blast playing with the other kiddos while I work out.  They actually cry when they have to leave now sometimes.  What a huge gift!  Now I can run to the gym, drop of the boys at child care, go lift some weights, and run home.  Sometimes we even combine some errands with our adventure, like swinging by the bank, the library, or Walgreens.  Fresh Market is an easy run from home as well.  I love it!

Today's Best Body Bootcamp workout included Ladder Sets and I LOVED it.  I even added some extra exercises to the list to continue the ladder theme.  It felt great to "pump some iron" after taking the weekend off from weight training.

Ladders looks something like this...

• Perform 5 rep of the given exercise
• Rest a few seconds
• Perform 6 reps of the given exercise
• Rest a few seconds
• Perform 7 reps of the given exercise
• Rest a few seconds
• Perform 8 reps of given exercise
• Rest a few seconds
• Perform 9 reps of the given exercise
• Rest a few seconds
• Perform 10 reps of the given exercise
• Rest a few seconds

These fast-paced workouts keep my interest up as well as my heart rate.  They're the next best things to circuits, in my opinion.  I highly suggest you try them out.  Thanks, Tina, for the great workout!

I finished out my time at the gym with some intervals on the elliptical while finishing up my reading for the next MOPS meeting. The stort if Ruth was a great one.  It was my favorite novela so far.  

The boys are napping so I'm going to embrace the quiet and get some studying done before it's time to tutor.  Happy Monday!

Back To Reality

What a day yesterday was! It was a crazy kind of produce day and I had to say goodbye to my sister in the midst of it all.  I can't even put into words how helpful and wonderful she was to have around.  It's such a wonderful thing to be able to call your sister your best friend.  I love her!  Things did start to get better after all the produce was picked up and the missing items were documented.   I got tot tutor one of my favorite students and then I hit the road for my tried and true stress-reliever, a run.  The weather was glorious and I returned home after 5.5 miles feeling much better about life.  The boys and I ate dinner and played before I put them to bed.  Then my friend came over to give me some highlights.  She ended up using two tones and I love the variation--so natural.  Thanks, Heather!  It was great to catch up.

I was so glad to be able to start fresh today.  We kicked off our morning by lazily sleeping in til 7:30.  I love going in to get these boys in the morning...

"Peek-A-Boo"

Colton

Mason

For breakfast, we enjoyed some homemade apple butter on english muffins...

...with a side of scrambled eggs before heading off to the library for some fun.  I forgot my camera...woops!  We had a blast, as usual, at the Family Place.  It was a small, intimate group this morning.  I love being able play with my kids, and watch them play with the other children, while chatting with the other moms.

After the library and a couple of errands, the boys let me squeeze in a workout which included two workouts from Tina's Best Body Bootcamp (I had to catch up from last week where I was focused on the race) along with some sprint intervals on the elliptical.  The exercises on the Bosu ball never seem to disappoint.  Tina's workouts have been a great way to shake up my exercise routine.  I missed my workout buddy though :-)

My 20 minutes on the elliptical looked like this:

• First 5 minutes: warmup
• Alternate 1 minute sprints with 30 second recoveries (6 times)
• Alternate 1 1/2 minute sprints with 30 second recoveries (2 times)
• 2 minute cooldown

I made myself a quick protein smoothie to replenish my body after my workout while the boys ate their lunch.  Then I started snacking on these little gems my sister left behind...

I guess I'm a bad mom because I was letting my 19 month olds enjoy them along with me...and it's not the first time I've share nuts with them.  Check out this warning I noticed on the bag...

WHOOPS!

Speaking of things I've discovered, I got this sample in my Target beauty samples bag and am now on a mission to buy some.  I love this stuff.  

It's a "flawless beauty primer" and I feel like it really gives my face a fresh look and it feels nice going on too.  I am such a minimalist when it comes to makeup and I love stuff like this to just brighten up my look a bit.

The rest of my quiet time is dedicated to laundry, studying, and sipping on some tea.  When the boys wake up, we are definitely going to get our butts outside to enjoy this gorgeous day.  Dinner is just leftovers so we can soak up as much fresh air as possible until we get hungry.  Maybe we'll even eat outside :-)  Have a fabulous Friday!