Day 28- Completing the Clean Living Challenge

Today is the final day of Crossfit Southwest's Clean Living Challenge!! I am proud to say I made it through without cheating the program or myself. I ate clean, worked hard, and focused efforts on rehabbing injuries and recovery.

So what are the benefits I have noticed? 

• I have loads of energy in the afternoon
• I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go
• Finally sleeping better (Thanks Danielle!)
• Lost about 5lbs and 3.5" from my hips/abdomen
• My um...digestion is more regular than normal
• I have increased my mobility and range of motion in my shoulders and hips
• I reconnected with some great friends and made new bonds with fellow challengers
• My culinary prowess has increased...hello kohlrabi and bacon!

What were some of my challenges?

• The first week I had nightmares about baked goods. I can't even eat pie without it messing me up but for some reason I was craving cake, cookies, and pie
• Finding healthy snacks...too often I turned to nuts or fruits which either put me over my carb goal or left me hungry later on
• Explaining my diet to everyone at work and getting crap for it
• Planning all my meals ahead can be exhausting
• Being sober for the Super Bowl. Lame.
• Missing my Dutch Bro's skinny latte

What happens now?

• I'm going to enjoy some little cheats (skinny Margarita from Ajo Al's, some Valentine's chocolate)
• I'll slowly bring back some "forbidden foods" like yogurt and protein shakes
• I plan to keep my carb intake around 100g for now...allowing for some movement depending on my activity level
• Continue taking time to recover...AM sun salutation, yoga few times a week, going to bed early
• Keep pressing forward

Thank you everyone for supporting me through this. It has been a great learning experience.

Grain free blueberry muffins

Day 3:

So a big part of the primal challenge is to rein in my daily carb intake. It is a huge adjustment to go from eating lots of fruit and oatmeal to trying to keep my daily intake around 100-150g.  The thing that helps the most is switching to low carb veggies and berries and healthy nuts when I need a quick pick-me-up before a workout.  Another trick is to take recipes and tweak them so they meet the primal criteria: low carb and high protein and healthy fat.

Luckily for me, there are lots of people who have done the work for me and I can browse their blogs to get ideas. Today's recipe comes from fastpaleo.com.

Grain free blueberry muffins

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients and Cooking Steps

• 2 1/2 cups almond meal
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 300°. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners (or grease each cup well with coconut oil).
In a large bowl, whisk together everything but the blueberries until fully combined. Gently fold in the blueberries to incorporate.

Fill each liner 3/4 full with batter and bake for 30-40 minutes. The top should be spongey but firm when pressed and your finger should not go through into the muffin. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from muffin pans.

Per muffin:
Cal: 182
Total carbs: 12g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 8g
Fat: 12g
Protein: 7g