Whole30 Challenge, Day 7: A Sporty Sunday Funday
Day 7
One week of Whole30 is done! Woo hoo! On day 7 my husband and I woke up at the crack of dawn to watch English soccer. There were a bunch of great games on – Manchester United vs Liverpool, Manchester City vs Arsenal, and Tottenham vs QPR. We got up at 6am but that left me with under 8 hours of sleep (and we all know sleep is important on Whole30) so I went back to bed for another hour. I am definitely sleeping more deeply and soundly and it’s nice. I love sleep!
I read the Whole30 daily email which talked about doing something rewarding for yourself today. Normally people tend to think of food as a reward but this challenged us to reward ourselves in other ways – a hot bath, reading a book, getting a massage, or being outdoors. I liked this plan and made a vow to do something for myself.
After several hours of soccer watching, we went from futbol to American Football and started watching the NFL playoffs. It was fun, but a lot of time in front of the TV which I’m not that used to. I decided to multitask and continue to watch football while completing a home workout. I have been taking my workouts pretty easy since I was sick with the cold / flu ickiness last week. I decided to do a 30-30-30-30 workout: 30 burpees, 30 squats, 30 pushups, and 30 situps. I did the squats with the 20 lb kettlebell. While I was using the 20 lb kettlebell to do my squats, I thought of something. 20 pounds is about how much weight I’ve lost to date. And it felt like a significant amount of weight when it was in my hands. It’s crazy to me to think that amount of weight was on my body just months ago. And now I’m using that weight for strength training. It really reminded me how far I’ve come. After I did my 30 x 4 I went outside and did some jumprope. And I’m sore today from it. I’m not sure if that’s a sign that I’m weak or a sign that I got a good workout. I’ll go with the latter.
After the home WOD, we ordered lunch from a local cafe because we were running low on food. It was my first time ordering off a menu since being on Whole30. I got a salmon salad with dressing on the side. No biggie. When I got the salad it had balsamic vinegar on the side. We ordered take out so I was at home when I opened the salad and had the idea to make my own salad dressing for it. I quickly mixed up together garlic, olive oil, ginger, onion powder, apple cider vinegar, and fresh lemon juice in my mini food processor and put it on my salad. Wow, it was delicious. I’d like to call it a “happy accident.” Haha!
Later in the day I planned out our meals for the week and our grocery shopping list. Sundays are the days where I have to either plan out our meals or do the bulk of my cooking. I have to otherwise it gets way too cumbersome during the week. Preparation is key here. We went to the grocery store and stocked up for the week. I couldn’t believe how much meat we were getting but that’s how it goes when you are eating healthy for two people!
While we were out we also went to look at new wetsuits for me. My old wetsuit is too big on me now and we are having a cold spell here in Los Angeles (see this awesome video about it here). I need something to keep me warmer in the water because the last time we surfed it was so cold I had to take a bath afterwards to warm up. I’ve been pretty bummed because the wetsuit I really want is out of stock and no longer being made. Sad. I tried on the Rip Curl Flashbomb which was super sweet and is apparently the fastest drying wetsuit on the market. But being the fastest drying wetsuit also comes with a hefty price tag. It is $420 which is not in the cards right now. I am confident I will find something soon I just like to thoroughly research items like this before I buy them and I’m having a hard time finding a lot of information about women’s surf gear online. It seems like surf brands do a great job at marketing the surf lifestyle to women but don’t emphasize the gear as much. Maybe because it’s a smaller market. Maybe I should start writing surf gear reviews here on F&A. If it helped women out I sure would.
When we got home from shopping we put groceries away and I started making dinner. I made Mustard Glazed Chicken Thighs. It was my first time making chicken thighs and I think they turned out AWESOME. They were nice and flavorful. We liked them a lot. I will post the recipe later this week. I also made cauliflower mash for the first time ever. It was messy, but it turned out great. Additionally I made a paleo meatloaf and popped it in the slow cooker so we can have for dinner this week.
After dinner I decided to follow my Whole30 orders of doing something for myself. I decided to take a hot bath. I filled the bath water with some essential oils and epsom salt – which I read in It Starts with Food is another way to get magnesium. The epsom salt contains magnesium which is absorbed through your skin in the bath. That’s why it’s so relaxing and calming like Natural Calm. Good to know!
The folks at Whole30 also put together a Day 7 reflection sheet that I vowed to fill out. Once I’m done filling it out I will share with you all. Overall I have one week down the hatch and I am feeling great! I am not finding it too hard as long as I have a plan. So, my week one advice is to make sure you plan ahead and think about what you’re going to eat in advance. And always keep a snack in your purse or car that’s Whole30 friendly.
Over and Out,
LT
What about you? Do you think of food as a reward? What do you do when you want to reward yourself?
In This Post:
Are you going to post the cauliflower and meatloaf recipes?
Oh yeah! Probably tonight!