Day 16

Breakfast:

• Ruby grapefruit
• Strawberries
• 2 boiled eggs

Lunch:

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Day 15

Breakfast:

Jamba Juice... Some berry shit. It was too sweet and I'm super hungry. Don't do that again!

Lunch:

A healthy salad to balance out my disastrous "breakfast"

• Lettuce with mushrooms, red bell pepper, onions, beets, cucumber, asparagus, meatballs, cranberries and sunflower seeds

Dinner:

I felt like I got the day off to a bad start with that smoothie, so by the time I finished my workout and got home, I was starving! I ended up eating an orange, some strawberries, an apple with almond butter and some leftover chicken. I then participated in another Seder dinner with grape juice, Charoset, Matzah, chicken, brisket, veggies and fruit for dessert. All in small portions, but I was stuffed at the end!

Day 14

Breakfast:

• 2 boiled eggs
• Strawberries and dried apricots

Lunch:

Leftovers! And they're so good... Even though I'm working and eating at the same time (probably not recommended by the Whole30 Program)

• Herb crusted fried chicken and brussel sprout salad with apples, bacon, pomegranate seeds and toasted walnuts 

Dinner:

Passover! No pics... But the meal included some chicken soup, salad, salmon and strawberries for dessert.

Day 13

Breakfast:

Brunch with my ladies!

• Veggie egg scramble with squash, tomatoes and eggplant and side salad

Late lunch / snack:

• Cucumbers with smoked salmon and dill
• Granny Smith apples with almond butter and coconut flakes

Dinner:

• Shaved brussel sprouts with apple, pomegranate seeds, bacon, toasted pecans and a lemon dijon mustard dressing
• Nut and herb fried chicken (recipe here)
• Dates and pineapple for dessert

Day 12

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs with onions, lox and dill
• Avocado, raspberries and orange

Late lunch:

• Tuna salad with celery, pickles, avocado, tomatoes, butter lettuce topped with pomegranate seeds

Day 11

Breakfast:

• Another Friday breakfast on the go! Smoothie with bananas, mangos, strawberries, almond milk and freshly squeezed orange juice. NOM.

Lunch:

• Speciality's spinach and bacon salad (also included carrots, red onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, boiled egg and poppyseed lemon dressing)

Snack time! Slight burnt kale chips...

Dinner:

• Sautéed shrimp
• Roasted brussel sprouts
• Sweet potatoes fries

Day 10

10 days completed!!! 1/3 of the way done. And I have a serious sweet tooth... I'm phantom smelling chocolate cake, muffins and fresh baked bread. Sigh

Breakfast:

• Ruby red grapefruits
• Blueberries and raspberries
• 2 boiled eggs
• Coffee with almond milk

Lunch:

• Mixed salad with kale, onions, tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, blueberries, grilled chicken, peanuts, cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette
• 1 boiled egg
• An orange

Dinner:

• Again, another fail... I ended up snacking on almonds, dried apricots, raisins and also had a little bit of caesar salad (that's allowed, right?!)

Day 9

Breakfast:

• Egg frittata (again)
• Raspberries, strawberries and half a banana

I also had my stuffed animal friends join me for breakfast since Jackie is in Baltimore today (wah!)

Lunch:

• Coconut curry butternut squash soup
• Sautéed chicken, broccoli, heirloom tomatoes and lemon
• Beets soaked in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Dinner:

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Day 8

Breakfast:

• Egg frittata with red onions, mushrooms, red bell peppers and sautéed spinach
• Strawberries and kiwi
• Coffee with almond milk (not pictured, I had to gulp it down the minute I got into the office)

Lunch:

• Tuna salad with diced veggies on top of lettuce with red wine (ek!) vinaigrette
• Freshly squeezed orange juice

P.S. It literally took me SERIOUS self control not to eat (even just a bite...) that crunchy grilled toast

Snack time:

• The remains of the mini watermelon I demolished
• And of course, a snack for the hungry Yogi Bear... Rice cakes with almond butter, banana and coconut flakes

Dinner:

• Sautéed beef with veggies

Not pictured because I let Chef Yosef do the cooking and it took a gazillion hours. By the time the meal was ready, I inhaled the food and forgot to take a picture. But holy cow, his cooking is damn good. NOM.

Day 7

The last day of the first week, and I'm not feeling too much different. I'm waiting for that energy to kick-in...

Breakfast:

• Egg frittata with onions, mushroom, red bell pepper and spinach (similar recipe here)
• Strawberries

Lunch:

• Coconut curry butternut squash soup (recipe here)
• Pork sausage (and some sauces I forgot I can't eat...)
• Salad with sautéed onions and balsamic dressing
• Orange and baby carrots

Dinner:

• Grilled chicken sautéed with garlic, steamed broccoli and heirloom tomatoes
• Boiled beets with balsamic vinaigrette and lemon juice
• Check out these delicious ice cube I made!!! I froze blueberries, raspberries and lime juice into ice cubs for a nice cool drink on a hot spring evening like it is today in San Francisco. Love!

Day 6

Breakfast:

• Zucchini fritters (recipe here)
• Fried eggs
• Oven baked bacon
• Orange
• Peet's coffee with frothed coconut milk and cinnamon 

Mid-day snack:

• Almond butter, fresh orange juice, almond milk, banana and frozen strawberries and mangos

Keeping my roomie fed too:

Dinner:

BBQ time on this lovely sunny Sunday!

• Grilled tuna
• Grilled veggies - the garlic salt was the perfect seasoning!

Day 5

Breakfast:

• Egg scramble with red onions, red bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and cilantro
• Cappuccino 

Lunch:

• Tuna salad with red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper and avocado
• Left over roasted yams

Dinner:

Ok, so I super failed here. I didn't prepare a meal to bring with me, knowing very well that I would be on the go. I ended up picking at veggies and some cucumber salmon appetizer things at the auction I attended, but it was NOT a balanced nutritious meal. I apologize to anyone who received my hangry wrath...

Day 4

Breakfast:

• Breakfast on the go! Smoothie with almond milk, banana and frozen strawberries

Lunch:

Leftovers (again)!!

• Ginger chick
• Roasted yams
• Smashed cauliflower

Dinner:

• Chicken with fresh guacamole
• Roasted Brussels sprouts
• Salad (there's no cheese on there I swear...)

Day 3

Breakfast:

• Surprise, surprise! Eggs again... 2 boiled eggs (last night I spent some time researching other easy breakfast options)
• Fruit bowl of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi and banana
• Tazo green tea with lemon grass and spearmint

• 
  

Lunch:

• Leftovers (again), but they were SO super delicious second time around. Baked salmon (slightly microwaved) with walnut basil pesto.
• Sauteed onions, mushrooms and orange bell pepper
• Beets, carrots, cucumbers and 5 olives
• AND ALMOND MILK (unsweetened) which I discovered, I can have! Horray! Time to make some smoothies...

Dinner:

• Ginger chicken (recipe here)
• Roasted yams (recipe here)
• Smashed garlic cauliflower (recipe here)

Day 2

Breakfast:

• 2 boiled eggs
• Blackberries, blueberries and raspberries
• 1 tangerine
• And some Echinacea pills (because Emergency and all those other "vitamins" have TONS of sugar in them)

Lunch:

• Leftovers!!! Bacon, apple and rosemary burgers
• Sautéed asparagus and red bell peppers
• Blood orange
• And a couple bottles of water using my awesome "Cowlection" water bottle my dad got me from Switzerland

Dinner:

NAILED IT! I do need to improve on my efficiency in the kitchen... This meal took approximately 2 hours to complete.

• Baked salmon with walnut pesto
• Sauteed onions, mushrooms and yellow bell peppers

Recipe can be found here.

Day 1

Breakfast:

• 2 boiled eggs with salt and pepper
• Berry mix, including raspberries, blackberries and blueberries
• Peppermint tea

EAT SLOW!

Lunch:

• Tuna salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, dijon mustard and curry
• Carrots, red bell peppers and almonds
• Macha tea

Dinner:

• Apple, bacon and rosemary beef burgers
• Asparagus with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice
• And dates for dessert!

Recipe can be found here.

Thank god I'm totally full and ready for day 2!

Making Plans: Turning all that talk into action!

Earlier this year, in February, my coworkers and I started our own little boot camp. My goal was to get toned. We created a pretty basic, yet consistent schedule of cardio, abs, legs, arms and chest. After a few months I was definitely feeling stronger, but I didn't feel like I looked trimmer. So I needed to control my food intake...? I guess that would mean cutting down on the egg sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, cereal for breakfast, pasta with vodka sauce and all the delicious Swiss chocolate my mom brings me?

After weeks of thinking about different diets I could try, I finally decided that I just need to eat healthy and manage portion control. And... make a blog so I would stick to it!

I looked at different eating plans to help create some structure for myself, at least for the first few weeks. My friend had done the Whole30 program before, so I looked into it and agreed that this would be a good step in the right direction.

The Whole30 program is focused on eating whole, natural, healthy foods - in balanced proportion. That includes protein, veggies, fruits and healthy fats. And excludes refined sugar, dairy, grains or legumes. And for 30 days! With the idea of course, that after, I'll have learned how to cook more nutritious meals. Oh yeah... And no alcohol, but I figured that out last year during sober November.

The Whole30 program has a great website, with tons of resources, links recipes and blogs. But, I knew that most important thing for me to be successful would be to plan - which I love doing! Plan meals, plan grocery shopping lists, plan snacks, etc. I created a google doc with a calendar to plan out my meals each week and the ingredients I would need. But other than that, I decided I would keep things sort of spontaneous by researching, learning and coming up with new ideas as the weeks passed so that I wouldn't feel too much pressure or overwhelmed.

And then lastly, I decided my start date would be April 1st (since the month of April has 30 days). So here we go...