Rest of Week 2 of Challenge - Round 2

A perfectly sweet watermelon is one of
my all-time favorite fruits!

Day #10 - Wednesday, September 28
Breakfast
Egg Bake
Banana

Lunch
Sushi - Mostly the riceless variety with cucumber wrap. I did have a roll with strawberry, crab, etc.

Dinner
Chicken uncured, no preservatives "hot dogs" w/lettuce wrap and tomatoes
Watermelon

Day #11 - Thursday, September 29
Breakfast
Egg Bake
Nectarine

Lunch
Chicken hot dog w/lettuce wrap and tomatoes
Banana

Dinner
Baked Salmon w/onions and peppers
I also cooked some pork tenderloin marinaded in natural orange juice, salsa, and ginger as well as chicken thighs. I sampled them both as part of dinner. Both cooked wonderfully in the pressure cooker!! Moist and tender. Mmmm
Watermelon
Larabar - cherry pie (dates, cherries, almonds)

Day #9 of Challenge - Round 2

Tuesday, September 27
Breakfast
Egg Bake

Lunch
Tuna salad w/lettuce wraps and salsa

Workout: 
Double under practice
Run 2.6 miles (To pet store and back), took about 30 min total including getting cat treats. :)

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, kale, frozen strawberries, primal fuel, flax seed meal
Chicken Hot dogs (not cured, etc) - wrapped in lettuce
Watermelon

Weekend #1 of Challenge - Round 2

This was one of my more successful weekends so far!
My favorite dish we made was a stir fry . I first cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the pressure cooker. Then I stir fried onions, peppers, fresh green beans, red and green cabbage. We made a sauce out of (mostly) stock from the pressure cooker and tamarind concentrate. Delicious!

For the week we made:

• Tuna Salad - omega 3 flax mayo, lemon juice, hard boiled egg, spices
• Spaghetti Squash w/meat sauce 
• Baked Salmon
• Taco Egg bake - bacon, onion, pepper, homemade taco seasoning
• Plenty of fruits and veggies for snacking!

I still have a pork tenderloin and chicken thighs that need cooking. I plan to do that tonight or tomorrow! I will likely marinade the pork tenderloin prior to searing and baking it. 

Day #8, Monday, September 26

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs

Turkey sausage patty

Lunch - Salad Bar

Giant salad - greens, tomato, jalapenos, grated beets, squash, carrot, chipotle dressing

Meatball soup

1/2 small sweet potato w/ bacon, chives and salsa

Dinner

Spaghetti Squash

Meat Sauce - beef, onion, pepper, spices, tomato sauce (no salt added)

Day #4 of Challenge - Round 2

Thursday, September 22
Breakfast
Sausage
Grapes
Banana

Lunch
Meatloaf w/hardcooked egg
Salad - greens, slaw, EVOO
Nectarine

Dinner - Event directly after work
Wraps - I had very little, and I removed the cheese. It was mostly turkey or ham.
1 mini cupcake

After I came home at 9pm I was still hungry, so I ate some tuna salad.

I think I'll suggest that they provide a veggie or fruit tray next time! It's relatively inexpensive to do yourself and not many people touch it. I'd be happy, though!

Day #3 of Challenge - Round 2

Tuna salad with nori wrap

Wednesday, September 21
Breakfast
Nectarine
Banana

Lunch
Meatloaf
2 Hard boiled eggs
Slaw

Workout - I practiced air squats with a dowel rod. I'm taking a step back to perfect my form and improve my flexibility before adding weight back. I also did press 45x5x3 and pullups with 2 blue bands and a pink band: 6,5,4 reps.

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, kale, frozen raspberries, flax seed meal, and primal fuel
Tuna Nori wrap
Slaw

Day #2 of Challenge - Round 2

Nori

Yesterday I prepared multiple dishes for the week:
Meatloaf - grass-fed beef, onion, carrot, parsley, cilantro, spices

Slaw - red & green cabbage, carrot, parsley, cilantro, lemon juice & zest, mustard & celery seed

Tuna Salad - tuna, hard boiled egg, mustard, chow chow (cabbage relish), dab of mayo, pepper, paprika

Last night the husband had a great idea to pick up some Nori on the way home. We generally use lettuce wraps as you've maybe seen in past posts, but Nori would be a great structurally sound AND delicious alternative. Nori is rather nutritious as well with about ¹⁄₃ protein and ¹⁄₃ dietary fiber. It contains high proportions of iodine, carotene, vitamins A, B and C, as well as significant amounts of calcium and iron. For those of you who are unaware of nori, it is a seaweed product that resembles paper. It is created much like paper, where seaweed is shredded and dried on a rack. It is most notably used as a wrapper for sushi rolls. I think tonight we will have tuna wraps for dinner; I'm looking forward to it!


Tuesday, September 21
Breakfast
Scramble
Grapes

Lunch
Salad - greens, chicken, hard boiled egg, sprouts, tomato, carrot, evoo, splash balsamic
Handful of nuts

Workout
Ran around 2.2 miles, not sure on time

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, kale, frozen raspberries, primal fuel, flaxseed meal
Meatloaf
Slaw

Day #1 of Challenge - Round 2

Amazing weather and view!

Now it is time to double my efforts!! We went to San Francisco last weekend and had an amazing time. We made no real effort to stick to paleo while we were there, so I'm even more ready for another challenge.
We have another vacation to Pennsylvania to visit family in 30 days, so it lines up perfectly!

Day 1, September 19
Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs

1 Sausage patty

Banana

Lunch
Salad - spring mix, chicken, jalapeno, onions, peppers, black beans, guacamole, ancho dressing
Handful of nuts

Workout - Ran solo 1.15 miles in 13:49, then ran with a friend 1.25 miles in 12:31. The weather outside was amazing, so it felt great to run again. I also did a few things in the weight room, a couple deadlifts, bench press, and ab wheel.

Dinner
Smoothie - nectarine, kale, frozen raspberries, flax meal, primal fuel
Scramble - eggs, onion, pepper, sausage, garlic, spices
Yogurt 

30 Day Paleo Challenge Update

Goodness, it's been a while since I posted during my challenge! We are such busy people with multiple jobs and real estate investing. It's no excuse to stop blogging! We've done fairly well, but now that I am near the end and about to leave town, I feel the need to go another round of the challenge. So, I have decided that I will begin round 2 on Monday, September 19th.

Here's my food from Wednesday, September 7th, Day #22

Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg
Red Grapes

Lunch
Chicken Thighs
Carrot Broccoli Salad
Fruit salad

Dinner
Ground Chicken stew w/Spaghetti Squash "noodles"

I made a giant batch of the chicken stew with squash noodles and we ate that throughout the week. I brought the last portion for lunch today. For breakfast the last few days I had a primal fuel shake with just water.

Holiday Weekend - 30 Day Paleo Challenge

Days 17-20, Labor Day weekend

Ader Bumper Plates

The husband and I had plenty of paleo food throughout the weekend. Boiled eggs became tuna salad, beef tacos were combined with freshly cooked chicken thighs. (2 meats are better than 1!) We did attend multiple family get-togethers and ate open meals. We brought a fruit salad to both -- improving the selection!

On Sunday we purchased rubber Olympic-style bumper plates. For the last few months we've been using stacked metal plates to raise the bar high enough for the deadlift. This was inviting crushed fingers and wasted strength! It was time to get the real thing. We bought 160lbs of Ader bumper plates, 2-10s, 2-25s, and 2-45s. They are all the same circumference so no matter the weight, it's always the same height.

We had a very successful workout day yesterday. Due to the over-100 temps for over 2 months, we have not ran in that long. On Monday, though, a cold front swept through north Texas and it was 75 degrees in the morning! We went for a jog around 10am -- 1.6 miles.

Then in the evening, around 4pm, we did our regular Starting Strength workout. It was an A day with Squat, Bench, and Deadlift. I deadlifted 100lbs, and I'm almost back to where I was prior to starting over. I felt amazing after!

For today, Tuesday, September 6th, Day #21 of the Challenge:

Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg
Fruit Salad - Watermelon, pineapple, grape, strawberry, mango

Lunch
Stir Fry - chicken, broccoli, sprouts, carrot, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, squash, mushrooms
Carrot Broccoli Salad
Rest of fruit salad

Dinner
Chicken Pad Thai

Day #16 - 30 Day Paleo Challenge

Wednesday, August 31

Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg
Pear
Coffee

Lunch
Husband had a craving for Indian food, and I gave in! Yum.
Buffet-style: Tikka Masala, Mushroom Mutter, Veg and Chicken Manchurian
Nectarine

Workout - Starting Strength
Post-Workout Smoothie - banana, turnip greens, frozen strawberries, primal fuel, flaxseed meal

Dinner
Beef Tacos
Trail Mix - Pepitas, Almonds, Dried Cranberries, Raisins