Whole30: Prepping for Round 2!

I'm doing my second round of Whole30 from January 2 - 31. (Less than a week away!) I think the best thing about doing a second round of Whole30 is the confidence that comes with knowing that I've made it through the 30 days previously. I can do this.

Another great thing about Round 2 is that I know a lot more people doing it this time. A few colleagues, friends, and friends of friends. One of our friends has already coordinated a Whole30 dinner party for mid-way through.

As we near the start of Round 2, I've been in planning mode and I've also noticed that I'm getting more questions from people. I thought I would compile a list of tips/reminders for myself and anyone else embarking on this adventure.

I included some tips in my recap of Round 1. I'm reiterating those, as well as some additional thoughts, here:

Before: Plan. It. Out.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. I know. It's cliche. It's also the truth. Especially for Whole30. With this in mind, you can't possibly plan for everything that will happen over the course of the 30 days. 

• We plan our meals out about a week in advance. I typically do this on Thursday and then my honey or I go grocery shopping on Friday. This allows time for food prepping over the weekend. Meal plan, grocery shop, food prep. Rinse and repeat. 

• Having a few "emergency" meals and snacks on hand is important. Our go-to "fast food" is Chomp Sticks and RX Bars. They sell both at our local Trader Joe's. (Just note that not all RX Bar flavors are compliant. Read your labels.) Also, having compliant sausage, a few potatoes, and a green veggie on hand are great for a quick and easy meal.
• If you find a recipe you like, and it works for leftovers, double the recipe. Here are eight of my honey and my favorites, that have remained in our meal rotation: 
• The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat. Ever. (Well Fed) This goes great with a chopped cucumber, bell pepper, and tomato salad with Primal Kitchen's Greek Vinaigrette. 
• Classic Beef Stew (Well Fed) 
• Creamy Spinach Sweet Potato Noodles (Pinch of Yum) This is also vegan! If you do want to add protein, compliant bacon or pancetta would be a nice addition. 
• Crock Pot Picadillo (SkinnyTaste) I enjoy this topped with slices of fresh avocado and with a side of steamed broccoli. 
• Jalapeño Turkey Burgers (The Organic Kitchen)
• Madras Chicken Salad (Nom Nom Paleo) This is an amazing make-ahead salad. It is super yummy, and fun to eat, in lettuce cups. 
• Oven Baked Meatballs with Marinara (Noshtastic) Spaghetti squash "noodles" works well with this... and I recently figured out how to make it in the slow cooker. Couldn't be any easier! Here's the how-to. 
• Paleo Pad Thai (Well Fed) Her sunshine sauce is one of the best things I've ever eaten. *drool* 

Lastly, before you start, don't forget to weigh in, take measurements, and snap some before pictures.

During: Trust the process.

That's it. I found the first week to be the most challenging, in that I was so preoccupied with doing the Whole30, what I was eating, what I wasn't eating, what other people were eating, etc. However, once I got through that first week, things got much easier.

Take things one day and one week at a time. It's 30 days. Which is not a lot of days in the whole scheme of things. You can do it.

If you find yourself struggling, or even if you think it is a breeze, I recommend checking out the Whole30 website. There is more information than you will need there, including a forum where you can find frequently asked questions and support from others. Oh, and Googling "Can I eat                on Whole30" is still a frequent Google search for me.

After: Celebrate!

Except not with drinking and eating everything you didn't eat while doing the Whole30. That really isn't the point. While Whole30 is not a Whole365, it is an opportunity to shift your relationship with food. Take your time with reintroduction and if you didn't miss something, don't add it back in just because you are now "allowed" to.

Take measurements and some after photos. Weigh in, if you'd like. Reflect on the last 30 days and how you feel. Hopefully, we feel a whole lot better than day one. I think we will.

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Disclosure: Everything above is my own opinion, I paid for all the products with my own cash money, and I am not receiving any sort of compensation. I'm mentioning specific products because they helped me to be successful, and to me that's worth sharing. 

My First 10K!

Three and a half years ago, I ran my very first 5K. On Thanksgiving, I ran my first 10K!

I ran it with my honey and a friend. My primary goal, like most of my runs, was to finish without passing out or throwing up. I also wanted to finish it at an 11-minute mile pace.

My honey was thrilled before the race. Obviously.

Not only did I fulfill those three goals, my official time was 1:04:25! Well under a 10:30 minute mile pace!

My FitBit app was a little more generous. I trust the official time.

It was a nice, mostly flat course and a good mix of street and trail. There were lots of volunteers who smiled, cheered, kept the route clear of cars, and provided high fives. While it was pretty cold out (40º F), I think it was a bit warmer than last year when we did the 5K. I was finally nice and warmed up by 1.5 miles or so in. Also about 2 miles in, I had to do my first bit of walking, because of a side stitch. (Boo!) Happy that it passed quickly and the only other time I did some walking was at the second water stop... and just so I could drink water before picking up my speed again. The 5K and 10K folks all started off together, and at a certain point, we diverged. I felt a great deal of pride veering off towards the 10K part for the first time. I have worked hard for this and I'm glad that I challenged myself to go beyond my 5K comfort zone. Overall, I really enjoyed the run and felt great afterward. I certainly intend to continue this turkey day tradition.

After the 10K, I enjoyed stuffing my face at our family friends' house. YUM.

When I first started running 5Ks a few people commented, "pretty soon you'll be running half marathons!" I told them to slow their roll. I told them to let me get some 5Ks under my belt. Now that I've got a dozen 5Ks and one 10K checked off my list, I finally see a half marathon on the horizon.

I am registered to run my second 10K in February... and my first half marathon in May! I mapped out my training on the calendar, and realized that I can do accelerated versions of the Couch-to-5K and 5K-to-10K training apps and then work my way through a half marathon app. (I liked Active's apps for 5K/10K, so I opted for their 13.one app.)

Stay tuned for more on my running and racing adventures!

Whole 30 Recap & Results!

I did it! I finished my first Whole30! Overall, I feel great and I'm proud that I stuck with it. I thought I would do a quick recap and share some of my results, as well as a few tips in case you are reading this because you are considering doing a Whole30 yourself. 

A quick disclaimer that everything here is my own opinion, I paid for all the products with my own cash money, and I am not receiving any sort of compensation. I'm mentioning specific products because they helped me to be successful, and to me that's worth sharing. 

Now that that's out of the way, a recap... 

Why I Did It: Three and half years ago, I was the unhealthiest I'd ever been (and will be). I started following fitness-focused people on Instagram, people who openly shared their health journey, successes and challenges, and I was inspired to make positive changes in my own life. I started a Couch-to-5K app. We started eating more lean meats and veggies and fruit and less processed foods. Within a few months, I lost ~40 pounds. While I have been successful in maintaining my weight loss, I started to feel ready for another challenge. I started hearing friends and colleagues talk about Whole30 and I started following more Whole30 peeps on Instagram. Thirty days of clean eating? Sounds good to me! I like planning and rules, so Whole30 seemed like a great fit for me. I mentioned it to my honey and he said he would do it with me. I looked at the calendar and noticed that starting on August 22 would allow us the full 30 days, plus 10 days for structured reintroduction, before our friends' engagement party on October 1. Decision made. 

Let the Planning Begin: I purchased (and read) It Starts With Food and Whole30, as well as America's Test Kitchen's Paleo Perfected. I started mentioning it to family, friends, and colleagues. I started to gather compliant recipe ideas. The weekend before we started, I mapped out our meals for the following week and prepped food, including making homemade chicken broth and veggie broth. 

Tip #1: Plan... to an extent.

I found that a week at a time worked best for us. I would map out the recipes, go grocery shopping, and prep. That left little room for excuses, while still allowing us to change things up week to week. I should note that this was how we started. It worked just fine until our fridge broke. Yes, OUR FRIDGE BROKE A WEEK INTO OUR WHOLE30. Ugh. Luckily, my parents were able to lend us a small fridge, although this still meant that we had to plan (and prep) for just a few days at a time, because of the lack of space. We did that for two weeks. TWO weeks! Nearly half of our Whole30... The good news is that we made it work and we didn't let it ruin our Whole30. Oh, and our fridge is functioning again! 

Tip #2: Double the recipe.

When we found a recipe we loved, and one that is just as delicious as leftovers, we made a big batch and portioned it out for additional, easy meals. Such as Melissa Joulwan's (Well Fed) The Best Chicken You Will Eat. Ever. It really is the best chicken ever and was perfect alongside a simple Greek-inspired salad of tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and artichoke hearts. 

Containers are Chefland. Got them on Amazon.

Tip #3: Recruit a Friend... or Family Member... or Colleague. Anyone.

I was stoked that my honey was up for joining me on the Whole30 adventure and that definitely helped keep me accountable. A colleague at work also decided to do it and I cannot begin to express how appreciative I became of her and our nearly daily check-ins about how I was feeling, new recipes, and overall cheerleading.

On Day 31, I got to my desk to find my copy of It Starts with Food, along with a Chomp stick, RX Bar, and the sweetest thank you note. 

Even if you cannot find a buddy who will do the Whole30 with you, at least recruit some supporters. It's important to have support. 

Results: One of the rules of Whole30 is that you are not allowed to weigh-in. This was probably one of the biggest behavior changes for me. I liked the shift from a focus on the number on the scale, to how I was actually feeling. Within a few days, I was feeling much less bloated. Within two weeks, my clothes all started fitting better/looser. While I knew I had lost weight, I was still shocked to discover that I lost 10 pounds. Here's a before and after...

While I'm happy that those 10 pounds are gone, what matters most is that I feel better. I have more energy and don't experience a mid-afternoon slump. My sleep has improved. I'm still well on my way to meet my next goal of running my first 10K on Thanksgiving morning. 

Now what? During the last few days of Whole30, my honey and I started to talk more about what we would carry forward. While I have no intention of doing a Whole365, we do have control over the food in our home and our home will remain Whole30-ish. 

Oh, and the first thing we introduced was wine. Cheers! Tonight, we reintroduce cheese. Mmm... cheese. 

Whole 30: 10 days down, 20 to go...

Wow. I can't believe we're a third of the way through our first Whole 30! At this point I feel like I've settled into it.

Overall, I feel great -- I'm sleeping well and not feeling an afternoon slump. I haven't had any major cravings. I haven't consumed anything non-compliant... not even close.

A colleague is also doing a Whole30 and we've been checking in most mornings. We had a good laugh when we realized that we both recently had dreams about accidentally eating something non-compliant. Hers was bread and other baked goods. Mine was oatmeal. I think she wins, right? Who dreams about eating oatmeal?! I don't even eat oatmeal all that regularly.

As far as food prep, we do about the same as we did before. Here is a snapshot of what our Whole30 meals look like...

Breakfast: I typically eat a couple hard boiled eggs and fruit for breakfast, so this was probably the easiest food transition. While I could continue with my typical breakfast, I thought this was a great opportunity to try something new. On Sunday, I made the Leek and Prosciutto Frittata recipe from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook, Paleo Perfected. Many of the recipes are not Whole30 compliant (honey, paleo "baked goods," etc.), this was is fine as is. Super fast to make and tastes just as good leftover. Throw in a side of fresh berries and I've been good to go until lunch.

Leek & Prosciutto Frittata + Bluberries & Strawberries

Lunch: This has generally been leftovers from Meal 3 the prior day. My favorite taco salad recipe is compliant, once you omit the tortilla chips and cheese. I barely missed them.

Taco Salad

Dinner: Our third meals of the day have varied. One from last week was beef burgers with avocado mayo and caramelized onions, and sautéed cremini and maitake mushrooms, accompanied by a giant, veggie-filled salad.

Burger w/ avocado mayo & onions, mushrooms, & salad.

And yes, leftovers from this Meal 3 were Meal 2 the following day.

We've definitely enjoyed some quite delicious meals during our Whole30. 

Whole30: 1 day down, 29 to go...

I'm back. 

After a lengthy blog hiatus. 

Blogiatus? 

So, why now?

I'm back to share about my decision to do a Whole30 and bring my honey along for the ride.

We've had friends do it. I follow a bunch of people on Instagram who have done it. I was intrigued. A nutrition reset of sorts sounded good. So I looked into it. I read the books. 

Not familiar with Whole30*? Here are the basic guidelines, from the website: "Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds."

The focus is real food. It is straightforward and there is no wiggle room. I like structure and rules, so it works well with my style. 

Now day one is almost in the books. Here's what we ate today:

Meal 1: Bacon, potatoes, bell pepper, and onion hash. (I found compliant bacon at our local Safeway!)

Meal 2: Chicken salad (avocado mayo, lemon juice, green onion, celery), cucumber, bell pepper, and grapes.

Meal 3: Pulled pork carnitas (Whole30 recipe), roasted sweet potatoes, cabbage slaw, and avocado.

How I'm feeling right now... Just fine. I was super tired today late morning. However, I'm not sure I can attribute that to Whole30. Because 1) I got up at 5 am to run 4 miles before my 9-hour work day and 2) I was sitting in a meeting with a lot of talking. Could be those things. Probably.

29 days to go...

*Want to read more about Whole30? Go here. 

I'm Still Here

Yep, still here!

Yes, at the beginning of 2014 I had every intention of blogging up a storm. However, shortly after setting that goal I decided to apply for grad school. Then I actually got into grad school! Fast forward to October, I've got 4.5 months of grad school (while working full-time) under my belt. 

This is my life until December 2015. I'm busy and I'm loving it. So far, I still have time to do most everything I need and want to do. I did have to let some things go, to make room for the addition of school. One thing was this blog.

Scratch that. I haven't completely let go. Now that I'm 4+ months into my grad program, I've got a good work-school-life flow going and plan to post more often. 

Stay tuned. 

Recipes: Oven Baked Eggs & Egg White Salad on Toast

Sooooo that blog once a week goal? Not going quite as planned. I start grad school (yay!) at the end of this month, which I anticipate will be fantastic but will add another priority to my life. A priority that will definitely come before my blog.

In the meantime, I will try to post more over the next few weeks. Up now...two ideas for super easy and healthy breakfasts.

I have three words for you:

Oven.
Baked.
Eggs.

I know it may sound strange but coming across this way of preparing eggs was seriously life changing. I make up a huge batch and have hard boiled eggs for a week. A hard boiled egg or two plus some fresh fruit is my favorite workday breakfast.

Now, I realize that making hard boiled eggs the traditional, stove-top way isn't particularly difficult but these are so super duper easy and are mostly hands off, freeing you up to do other food prep. Also, they are always cooked perfectly and nine times out of ten the shell just comes right off.

Below are the instructions for oven baked eggs, as well as a specific (delicious) use for two of them.

Oven Baked Eggs

What you'll need: 

• An oven, preheated to 325º
• A muffin tin
• However many eggs you'd like to make (preferably a few days old as they seem to peel easier)
• A big bowl filled with ice water

Directions: 

1. Place however many eggs you'd like to make in the muffin tin -- one egg per section. 
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.*
3. Remove from oven and immediately place eggs in the bowl of ice water to cool.

*30 minutes is perfect for our oven. You may want to test a few smaller batches to figure out what works best for you.

Egg White Salad on Toast
Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

• 1 slice wheat sourdough
• 2 hard boiled eggs, whites only, chopped
• 2 teaspoons nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• salt & pepper
• A few dashes hot sauce, optional
• Sliced avocado, optional

Directions: 

1. Place the bread in a toaster or toaster oven.
2. While the toast is toasting, combine the chopped egg whites, greek yogurt and mustard in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a few dashes hot sauce if using. 
3. Once the toast is ready, top with the egg salad and slices of avocado, if using.
   
   

Ass & Abs -- Personal Training Update

I have met with a personal trainer twice now...and have lived to tell the tale!

First session was a few weeks ago and was a get-to-know-you type thing. We talked about my goals and he walked me through warm up cardio and stretching. Then he had me do a bunch of exercises that focused on quads and shoulders. I was sore for two days...maybe three. Not mild sore either. Super duper sore.

This morning I had my second session. I walked to the gym (3+ miles), did some stretching and a little more warming up on an elliptical. Apparently today was ass and abs day. My personal trainer called it something much more professional like "gluts and core" but, regardless, my ass and abs are now yelling at me. My trainer had me do 10,000 squats (approximately) and then had me end my workout on a rowing machine.

"Just like House of Cards!"

I don't think he's seen the show.

After another 3+ mile walk home, I'm sitting down and worried that I won't be able to stand up again. (Wish me luck.)

I may be a bit slow at the Cystic Fibrosis "Great Strides" Walk tomorrow. At least it is a walk and not a run.

Ow.

2014 Goals Update! Vacation, Running, Grad School??? OH MY!

I wanted to do a quick goals update, since it has been a while since I have posted. For the most part, I've been blogging much more frequently this year. I did take a little break when I went on vacation last week. We went to Disneyland for four days and it was absolutely wonderful. It rained on us nearly the entire time but I'm not complaining because we were having fun at Disneyland!

MONORAIL! This was the view from our hotel room. Love.

Milk & Cookies.

Mickey beignets at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

Out there having fun, in the warm cool California sun rain.

In addition to my various goals (see updates below) I found out on Friday that we received a grant award at work for the biggest (money-wise) proposal I have ever written. YAAAAAAY! This is particularly fantastic because it secures resources for critical prevention, intervention and youth development services. A selfish reason that I was keeping my fingers crossed for the grant award is because it means I will most likely not have to submit another proposal of that size until 2016.

Oh, and if that isn't enough excitement for a couple weeks, I hit 'submit' on a graduate school application this morning. It is for an innovative, accelerated program that will allow me to complete my master degree by December of next year, all while maintaining my current full-time job. For now, I wait....

Goal Updates 

Home: 

• Complete January Cure.  
• Blog January Cure and goal progress minimum 1x/week. 

Fitness/Health - Reach Goal Weight & Maintain:

• Hot Chocolate 5K (January); Fight for Air Climb (March); Great Strides 5K (April); Stars & Stripes 5K (July); Fall 5 or 10K TBD.
• Hikes 1x/month minimum
• Schedule and track all fitness. 
• Complete five personal training sessions. 
• Group gym classes 2x/month minimum. 

The hiking goal has been one that I have really enjoyed accomplishing and we have easily exceeded it. My big hike this month will be with a childhood friend. We don't see each other all that often and she is a lover of the great outdoors and will be a wonderful hiking mentor.

I recently restarted my Couch-to-5K training -- mainly because I wanted to get back in the habit of running every other day and work up my running stamina. This past week I ran every other day. So far, so good!

Woot.

My first personal training session is scheduled for this Friday! I will report back on how that, and any future personal training sessions, goes.

Cooking/Health:

• Track all food and pay attention to portion sizes. 
• New recipes 8x/month. 
• Meatless lunches/dinners 4x/week minimum. 

The new recipes goal has been especially easy...and fun! I use Paprika which makes finding, importing and organizing recipes super duper easy. I also use it for our weekly meal planning and grocery lists. Meatless meals have also been easy and fun. Keeping it up at much as possible! I will post some of our favorite new recipes soon. 

Fun: 

• Read 12+ books. 
• Dates with friends 2x/month minimum. (May be combined with fitness fun.)
• Daily Challenge by me you health. (Overall well being.) 

I'm still working my way through the two books I started this year, A Confederacy of Dunces and Tattoos on the Heart. Both are very good but I honestly haven't been making reading a priority. I do want to work on that, even if it means just a little bit each evening. 

We have been having a lot of fun with friends so far this year -- next up is a dinner and game night at our house this Saturday. We'll be making a vegan paella. Mmm... 

Last, but not least... I've completed all of the Daily Challenge assignments since January 1...68 days and counting! 

San Francisco Adventure Part Two!

If you have been following my blog for a while, you may recall that this past September I went on a really long walk around San Francisco. 14 miles. You may want to start by checking out my recap of the experience here.

Up to date? Great! Now read on to hear about our next 15 miles...

My honey and I got up nice and early to meet our friends at our starting location.

Waiting for a BART train.

Cable car!

We opted to take the cable car, where we sat by a charming Australian couple who I would guess are in their 60s. I was chatting with the wife and she asked where we were visiting from. I told her that we live near the city. She lowered her voice and whispered, "why are you on a cable car?!?" My first thought was, "why not?" but I explained that, although more expensive ($6/each) than taking the bus ($2/each), it was the most direct and quickest route to where we were meeting our friends.

We hopped off at the end near Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf and walked maybe half a mile to the Marina.

We met up with our friends at the Safeway and quickly got on our way. After all, we had 15 miles to go! Oh, and one of the first stops was for caffeine and donuts. We weren't messing around.

Here is a link to our (approximate) route for the day -- Google Maps.

Before caffeine and donuts we visited the Wave Organ. Although we weren't there at an optimal listening time, it was still really neat.

Aquatic Acoustics.

Listening.

After a bit of listening, we ventured back to pick up donuts, granola and yogurt and caffeine at Dynamo Donut + Coffee. I zeroed in on the maple donut with bacon on it (obviously) but limited myself to a bite (or two) and stuck mostly to the granola and yogurt. And an espresso. My honey didn't mind eating the remainder of the donut.

Let's take a look at the donut.

Nom Nom Nom.

YUM.

Then we got back on our way!

I thought this sign was awfully specific:

South of the sign is fine.

From there, we made our way to one of my favorite San Francisco landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge. We saw it from many different angles that day, but one of the best views was from Fort Point. Fort Point is a National Historic site and protected the San Francisco harbor from attack during the Civil War. Yay, history! None of the planned activities at the fort fit with our schedule (we had just missed the cannon demonstration. damn.) so we did a little self-guided tour, mostly to climb to the top for the fantastic photo opportunities.

San Francisco, open your Golden Gate.

So yes, that view above was my favorite. But this view, once we had walked the trail that takes you under the bridge and further along the coast, wasn't too shabby either.

It is moments like these when I feel so grateful to live in such a beautiful place. The weather was also INCREDIBLE. Like, short-sleeves-and-still-a-little-warm-in-January weather. We are spoiled.

The weather was great until we hit Land's End, that is.

We found Lands End!

We stood at the edge, looking at the water, and literally watched the fog roll in and take over.

Fog moves fast, FYI.

Up next was a much needed lunch stop at the Seal Rock Inn.

Lunch.

With out bellies filled, we got right back on the road. Actually, the Great Highway. This was the last 1.5-2 hours of our journey and it was cold and foggy. Once we reached the Zoo, we found our way to a bus stop to take us to BART and our (thankfully seated) trip back home.

We found winter on the Great Highway.

I asked our friends if we could walk from the Zoo to Bayview/Hunters Point. We're not sure if it is physically possible, at least along the outer edge of the city, but if it is, you know we'll find a way. We also decided about halfway through our 15 miles that we should work on making our way through the middle of the city next. Always planning...

Thanks to our adventure (and some intentionally stepping later), I got my first 35,000 step badge on FitBit! Woot.

35,000 steps!

January Cure Updates -- Happy February!

Happy February! It is raining here today. Although that has put a damper on our plans to go for a hike, it is desperately needed and welcomed.

I suppose when I decided to do this project again, I underestimated how full my calendar already was last month. There were many days where I made others things a priority...like a 15-mile hike through San Francisco. (Blog post coming soon!).

Below is a list of the January Cure Assignments as well as my updated project list (with all of the completed items crossed off) . I know that I will have the opportunity to cross a lot more off during the remainder of 2014!

January Cure Project. DONE. Got these photos printed for less than $20.

Apartment Therapy's January Cure 2014 Assignments: 

• Jan 2: Make a Project List 
• Jan 3-5: Flowers, Floors, Green Cleaners
• Jan 6: Get a Fresh Perspective
• Jan 7: Set Up Outbox
• Jan 8: Select One Project from List
• Jan 9: Choose a Piece of Art to Frame
• Jan 10-12: Flowers, Kitchen Organization/Cleaning, Make Yourself a Meal
• Jan 13: Get Your Get-Together Together
• Jan 14: Create a Landing Strip
• Jan 15: Try a Media Fast
• Jan 16: Work on Your Goal Project
• Jan 17-19: Flowers, Bedroom Organization/Cleaning
• Jan 20: Get Papers & Files in Order
• Jan 21: Exercise a Little Cord Control
• Jan 22: Bathroom & Medicine Cabinets Cleanout
• Jan 23: Declutter Books/Media
• Jan 24-26: Flowers, Living Room, Lighting Refresh, Empty Outbox
• Jan 27: Catch Up Day
• Jan 28: Hang Artwork

Art hung in our entryway. DONE.

• Jan 29: Spruce Up & Surface Clean
• Jan 30: Show for Get Together
• Jan 31-Feb 2: Relax & Celebrate!

Our January Cure Get Together was a small dinner party at our house last night. We had three friends over, stuffed our faces with homemade Indian food and played a few rounds Cards Against Humanity. As for the Indian food, we made:

• Chickpea and Okra Coconut Curry (Vegan) -- I used this recipe as the base but subbed light coconut milk for the yogurt and added a bag of frozen okra slices.  
• Grilled Chicken Tikka -- We just made the chicken, not the tomato chutney, from this recipe. I chopped the chicken into bite-size pieces and marinated it in the yogurt mixture for a couple hours before my honey grilled it up. We served a mango chutney from Trader Joe's on the side. 
• Saag Paneer (Spinach with Indian Cheese; Vegetarian) -- I have made this recipe a couple times before. It is yummy and, although she provides instructions on making your own paneer and garam masala, I always pick those up at our local Indian market.
• Brown Rice and Naan -- I sliced big pieces of naan from our local Indian market in half and my honey warmed them up on the grill with the chicken.

Project List: 
Completed in 2013
Not Completed
Completed in 2014

Entry
Outbox
Clean out/reorganize hall closet
Paint front door
New door mat
Deep clean floors
Clean out/reorganize hall closet
Outbox

Living Room/Dining Room
Print Cuba photos for large frames in dining room
Order, frame and hang art print
Print, frame and hang photos in living room
New coffee table (glass top)
Fireplace insert
Entry table/cabinet/hooks/something?
Screen door
Deep clean floors (these are the same ones as the entry)
Deep clean living room
Put away holiday decorations
Reorganize china/booze cabinets
Hang mirror

Kitchen
Organize pantry cabinets -- containers for dry ingredients
Deep clean floors (see above)
Deep clean kitchen
Hang NOLA signs above stove
Hang paper towel holder
Purchase/hang light(s) above sink -- Hang second light.
Hang photo canvases

Family Room
Screen door
Clean out/re-organize DVDs/Blu-rays
Paint shelves -- Get second shelves for other side of couch or new side tables?

Office
Clean out/reorganize closet
Hang diplomas
Hang guitars
Fix closet doors
Declutter and reorganize books/shelves
Declutter and reorganize paperwork

Guest Room
Guest bed and side table
Move elliptical
Small TV -- hang in front of elliptical
New light fixture
Hang Bosnia photos
Clean out/reorganize closet
Hang mirror

Bedroom
Hang Croatia photo
Jewelry organization
New light fixture
Wedding photo - printed and framed
Deep clean bedroom
Reorganize dresser
Print, frame, and hang photo(s)
Clothes and shoe repairs

Bathroom
Paint
Deep clean bathroom
Declutter and reorganize under sink cabinet
Purchase/hang new towel rack(s)
Purchase/hang wall cabinet -- shelf/counter?

January Cure 2014 Updates! Days 7-14

I may be a *teeny* bit behind...and/or doing things a little out of order. Oh well. Also, in working on this blog post, I accidentally deleted my "Days 3-6 Updates" post. *groan* I'm a little sad about its disappearance but I'm not going to try to rewrite it...

Moving on...

This post is going to cover a lot of days. So get ready. Pour a glass of wine, get comfortable...

Day 7: Friday, January 10 and the weekend of January 11 & 12
Assignment: Flowers, Kitchen Organizing and Cleaning
See full assignment here.

This was a particularly busy weekend, and our poinsettia from the holidays is still alive and well, so purchasing more fresh flowers didn't happen. Neither did a kitchen cleaning but much of that was taken care of later. Like cleaning out and reorganizing our "pantry" cabinets. I took care of that on my day off on Monday. Among many other things...

Day 8: Monday, January 13
Assignment: Plan a Get Together!
See full assignment here.

I contacted friends who we have been meaning to get together with for ages and set up a dinner date at our home on February 1. Now to figure out what we will be cooking. Indian food, perhaps?

Day 9: Tuesday, January 14
Assignment: Create a Landing Strip
See full assignment here.

We generally use the corner of our kitchen counter as our landing strip, which is near our garbage and recycling cans and with a paper shredder conveniently located nearby. I'm thinking about getting a little mail organizer thing where we can put paperwork that needs to be taken care of in some way. In the process of looking online for something that may work, I found this pantry organizer thingy on Amazon and I think it could add some storage space to our hall closet. Hmm...

Amazon.com

Day 10: Wednesday, January 15
Assignment: Media Fast
See full assignment here.

I like this one. I want to do this more often. It is nice, and good for me, to disconnect every once in a while.

Day 11: Thursday, January 16
Assignment: Project Progress
See full assignment here.

We have chosen the two photos that we plan to print and frame! One is of the most beautiful window I have ever seen.

Love.

Day 12: Friday, January 17 and the weekend of January 18-19
Assignment: Flowers and Bedroom Cleaning
See full assignment here.

Bedroom cleaning was successfully completed and flowers did happen this weekend! Make that two bouquets of pretty pink flowers that I turned into four...

Day 13: Monday, January 20
Assignment: Organize Paperwork and Files
See full assignment here.

A work in progress...

Day 14: Tuesday, January 21
Assignment: Clean Up Cord Clutter
See full assignment here.

This is one that we are fairly good at already. Whew.


To learn more about the January Cure, check out Apartment Therapy.

2014 Goal Updates! My 4th 5K & a Recipe Roundup!

*My full list of 2014 goals can be found below. 

2014 5K #1: Sunday, January 12 -- Hot Chocolate 5K. This was a fun one, although very crowded. So crowded that I couldn't run at the pace I wanted until at least the Mile 1 marker. There were a few spots in the beginning where I was trying to run but realized that I could walk faster than the people "running" in front of us. (Really, they were just bouncing slowly along with the crowd...) What is it with people walking four- or five-wide across a narrow path, sidewalk, etc? (This annoyance obviously extends beyond this event.) Shouldn't this be like driving? Slower people to the right, faster people to the left...right?? Sorry for the mini-rant but I needed to get that off my chest. I feel better now. Now on to the good stuff!

Waiting to start.

This run was in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco (like the Awesome 80s 5K) and although it was really cold at 7:30 am...it was a gorgeous day and Golden Gate Park is an incredibly beautiful place to be, running or otherwise.

I ran this 5K with my honey (it was his first!), my friend from my first 5K in July and my friend from the Awesome 80s 5K in November. We were a good team and all finished within a couple minutes of each other. My final time was 38:19. Not my fastest (that was the Temecula 5K) but over two minutes faster than my last 5K in November. Not too shabby, seeing as I didn't run much prior to this one.

The especially cool thing about the Hot Chocolate 5K is that they give you hot chocolate (hence the name) AND fondue at the end. The chocolate was surprisingly good and I thoroughly enjoyed it with the dippers they provided -- a banana, marshmallow, rice crispy treat and a wafer cookie. It was all served up in this cute finisher's mug.

Mmm...chocolate.

In addition to running a 5K, we walked 3-miles roundtrip to and from the event from our friend's home and another few miles to and from brunch. We have established a nice 5K + Brunch tradition and I am loving it. Here's a photo of what I stuffed in my face that day -- fresh crab, avocado and a perfectly poached egg on an english muffin with salad on the side. 

*drool*

New Recipe Roundup! January 10-15, 2013:

• Spaghetti Squash Primavera from Skinny Taste -- I may have used a little extra cheese. Healthy and delicious. I highly recommend this one and you can make the spaghetti squash the day before for an even faster dinner.
• Mom's* Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole from Cooking Light -- Our milk had gone bad (whoops) so I subbed low sodium chicken stock. I also added a bit more liquid and stirred in 2 cups of cooked brown rice and heated it all together before pouring it into a baking dish, topping with cheese and broiling. I just had the last of the leftovers for lunch today. I really liked this one but my honey didn't really care for it. I don't think he likes the "just chicken" from Trader Joe's. He thinks it tastes too processed. I think I will try this recipe again, but with rotisserie chicken. 
• Balsamic & Bacon Brussels Sprouts. Recipe from a friend. -- The combination of ingredients in this dish is incredible. We ate it as a side dish with bun-less burgers topped with a little gruyere cheese. I will be making it again soon to fine tune a few things and then I will post the recipe here. Stay tuned!

I am already at seven new recipes so far this month and I am making a new mushroom and barley soup recipe tonight and we have a new pork tenderloin recipe scheduled for later this week. Overall, I feel like I have been doing really well with my 2014 goals and posting updates here has helped keep me accountable. Lots more work and fun ahead...

*Not MY mom.

2014 Goals
Home: 

• Complete January Cure. 
• Blog January Cure and goal progress minimum 1x/week.

Fitness/Health - Reach Goal Weight & Maintain:

• Hot Chocolate 5K (January); Fight for Air Climb (March); Great Strides 5K (April); Stars & Stripes 5K (July); Fall 5 or 10K TBD.
• Hikes 1x/month minimum. 
• Schedule and track all fitness. 
• Complete five personal training sessions.
• Group gym classes 2x/month minimum.

Cooking/Health:

• Track all food and pay attention to portion sizes.
• New recipes 8x/month.
• Meatless lunches/dinners 4x/week minimum.

Fun: 

• Read 12+ books. 
• Dates with friends 2x/month minimum. (May be combined with fitness fun.)
• Daily Challenge by me you health. (Overall well being.)

2014 Goals Update -- January Cure, Hiking, Recipe Roundup and Books!

*My full list of 2014 goals can be found below. 

January Cure: Got to admit, I'm not taking this year's cure quite as seriously. As in, if I already "sort of" did the daily assignment, I'm counting it as done. Not completely failing but definitely not my usual overachieving self. I'm still committed to getting this done, don't get me wrong, I may just be cramming here and there, as opposed to doing it on the daily. More updates on this goal, coming soon!

January Hike: Saturday, January 4 -- 11.16 miles with my honey and our good friend. 1,524 feet of elevation although my guess was a BILLION. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, mid-60s with a nice breeze once we got climbing.

Power Poses. Approximately halfway through our hike.

Beautifulness.

Personal Training Sessions: Step 1: Purchase personal training sessions. DONE! My plan is to schedule my first session in late February, when the new year's gym rush has hopefully died down, and schedule sessions every other Friday. (My regular day off.)

Other Activity: It has been a good week so far! Sunday was a much needed post-hike rest day but I did hop on the elliptical (love having one at home) for a bit to get in some extra steps. On Monday I did back-to-back Couch-to-5K trainings and an additional walk to get over 12,000 steps. My goal has always been 10,000 steps/day but I upped it this week for a FitBit challenge. Yesterday I got up early and did an hour walk before work and today I did a run/walk after work. Tomorrow is a long walk before a delicious sushi dinner.  (Notice the run/walk trend?) 

New Recipe Roundup! January 3-8, 2013:

• Lighter Fettuccini Alfredo (Cook's Illustrated) and a Rainbow Chard and Radicchio Sauté recipe from Bon Appetit. The pasta is five stars, for sure. (Not surprising from Cook's Illustrated, right??) I think I enjoyed it more than the full fat version. As for the chard&radicchio, I think I used too little chard and/or too much radicchio, which is on the more bitter side. I think the ratio should be 2/3 to 1/3 or even 3/4 to 1/4.
• Zucchini and Basil Lasagna (Cooking Light) -- I made a half batch for lunch and we enjoyed leftovers for lunch on Monday. 
• Chicken and Bok Choy in Miso Ginger Broth -- The premise of this recipe is an old favorite, one that I have always made based on a Martha Stewart recipe. This time I decided to try a short cut with Trader Joe's miso ginger broth...and it is definitely a keeper! How I know that it is a keeper, aside from my own palate, is that my honey went back for thirds. THIRDS. Oh, and it is super simple to throw together on a weeknight and perfect for chilly weather. Recipe post coming soon!
  
  

Ingredients for Chicken & Bok Choy in Ginger Miso Broth. YUM.

Books! I am currently reading A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole) and thoroughly enjoying it. It is set in New Orleans and we also just started watching Season 1 of Treme...so I feel like I've got a good theme going. I have also been working my way through We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lionel Shriver). 

Months ago, a friend started a private Facebook group for some of our lady friends called the Ladies' Book Referral Service. The sole purpose of the group is to find out what everyone is reading and provide a communal focus for recommendations. I have gotten so many great ideas from the group and one member had the brilliant idea (and follow through) to plan an in-person get together. This Saturday, we are gathering to drink wine, talk about books and start a rotation of excellent reads. I plan to bring Little Bee (Chris Cleave) to share. 

2014 Goals
Home: 

• Complete January Cure. 
• Blog January Cure and goal progress minimum 1x/week.

Fitness/Health - Reach Goal Weight & Maintain:

• Hot Chocolate 5K (January); Fight for Air Climb (March); Great Strides 5K (April); Stars & Stripes 5K (July); Fall 5 or 10K TBD.
• Hikes 1x/month minimum. 
• Schedule and track all fitness. 
• Complete five personal training sessions.
• Group gym classes 2x/month minimum.

Cooking/Health:

• Track all food and pay attention to portion sizes.
• New recipes 8x/month.
• Meatless lunches/dinners 4x/week minimum.

Fun: 

• Read 12+ books. 
• Dates with friends 2x/month minimum. (May be combined with fitness fun.)
• Daily Challenge by me you health. (Overall well being.)