Day 31 of 90

Quick post cause it's so late.

Tonight was my friends birthday, so I met a bunch of people out for drinks. (I had water of course...)

CF was a crazy workout...2 parter.

I. Group dynamic

II. Cornbread - for time (finished in 8:02)

-7 deadlifts (175lbs) <-- heavy weight!

-14 box jumps (I was stepping up for my hips were not letting me bring my knees high enough today...not sure why)

III. 30 Body weight (hahahaha) back squats (I did 135 and that was plenty heavy)

then 30 burpees for time. I finished in 8:24ish)

I went heavy, and pushed myself today. It was hard but I would rather take a few more minutes to do a workout and lift a heavier weight.

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon

Snack - blueberries

Lunch - Wenda salad

Snack - cashews

Post-workout protein shake

Dinner - last spicy stuffed pepper

Snack - 2 celery sticks with almond butter

Day 30 of 90

Wait. Hold the phone a sec. I've been doing a diet/exercise regimen type thingy for 30 days? I don't believe it. These past 30 days have flown. How fantastic has it been? Haha, it's been a roller coaster that's for sure. Good days, bad days, and amazing people to talk to or ask questions to when I have questions, or just give you a re-affirmation that you are doing a great job, or just to talk and say hi to. Daily when I hit ACF, I am amazed. Amazed at the people. I am seeing people do some impressive stuff that have been around for years, yet they are amazed by something I a 6-monther am doing. It feels good to have that positive reinforcement, and it is a highly encouraging thing to do take the next day and stride and to be better than yesterday. :)

Today I had my second interview for a residency position. I had a great feeling walking out of the hospital, but it's up to chance (or that's how I refer to it) in March. So we will see. Stay tuned. 2 more interviews in the next 2 weeks, then decision 3/21. Yup. That's the big day. Next year will be decided. As I progress further with CF, the idea of actually staying in Albany is not awful at all. I am excited at the chance to stay, and develop my friendships I am gaining daily I feel like. When I originally moved to Albany, it was to get in, do school and get out ASAP. Which 5 years ago equaled graduation day 5/12/12. It's amazing how life changes in 5 years, and where you end up unknowingly.

Anyways!! Completely off topic!!

Today food was a struggle. It was nice that at my interview they supplied us lunch, but I was a little flustered when lunch just showed up, and no dietary needs were taken into consideration. Normally it is asked, but it wasn't. I figured we would be sent to the cafeteria to find our own lunch, which would have been a completely better option at this point. But I let it go, didn't want to be "that person". So they brought in subs, who knows how great of quality the meat was, but subs nonetheless. Then, chips. Come on!! So it was time to improvise. I took a turkey sandwich and a ham sandwich. Picked off the lettuce and meet. Ate that. Thankfully I had packed celery and radishes as a snack, or the instance that this happened. So I rounded my lunch out with that. I had cashews to add some fat and fill me up, but I was so nervous for the interview, I didn't really notice, and just had a meatball/sauce when I got home at 330.

Food

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon

Snack - blue berries and a few cashews

Lunch - see above

Snack - meatball w/ sauce

Post-workout Protein Shake

Dinner - didn't happen. Another struggle

Snack - apple with almond butter

Back to Dinner...I was not in the least bit hungry or interested in dinner tonight after working out. I'm not sure why this happened, but I am asking around if people have any reasoning or if they have any suggestions to make sure that I am not starving myself, if it is important to be eating after working out. We will see. Stay tuned :)

Workout: HOLY CRAP. I thought I was ligit gonna puke. First time ever. Josh (one of the coaches said "I've never seen you make that face before" hahaha He is normally around, pushing me to do better and keep going during my workouts and I am thankful that he is around for the classes that he is. I apologized for my almost about to puke in your face face and he goes it's okay it was kinda sexy. gross. hahahaha anyways, here it is...

I. 1k row - 4:24 felt good...nice and slow did it

II. 20 minute AMRAP

-20 thrusters - 95lbs, then dropped to 85 after 15 in the first round (see below)

-20 pull ups (aka ring rows for me)

-20 burpees

So...I threw on the 25lb bumpers to make my barbell 85...did a few, felt heavy, but Jay one of the coaches saw me and said you need to do 95 (which was the Rx weight). So I did it. I have noticed the past few weeks I haven't been pushing myself weight wise, so who was I to say no. So I grabbed 2-5 pounders, and bumped to 95. The WOD started, and holy shit. That 95 was heavy. I couldn't control it down, so I was dropping it and having to pick it back up. Talk about wasting energy!! I was at #15 of my first set of thrusters and it was 5:30 into the 20 minute work out!! I mentioned it to Josh and he said drop to 85. I did 85, and only go through 2 full rounds, and had to force myself to do 3 more reps to start the new set in the 20 minutes. It felt good hitting it hard, and pushing myself, but I wore myself out during that first 15 movements, and struggled (hence the I want to puke face). I did it though. Next time I will hit that 95lb weight, and I will get through 2 rounds + more just like I did tonight :)

Sorry for the long post, but so much happened today. It was just a great day all around. Happy Tuesday all!!

Day 29 of 90

Is it really day 29 already? Wow. That means not only is this week 5 of the challenge, it's week 5 of my second to last rotation. 8 weeks of pharmacy school left!!

I was thinking last night about the CF and how fantastic it has been. The community of friends and the encouragement that I experience on a daily basis is really mind blowing. So many people that I have just merely encountered on Facebook in the 90 day challenge group or the ACF group that all have only positive and encouraging things to say, is nothing like I could ever have imagined. It really does make getting through this challenge a lot easier.

So today I decided it was time to try something new. One of these friends I only really talked to online, encouraged me to check out the Strongman class at CF today. I was nervous, thinking I could never do half of what they do there, but I'll go. I went, and got to meet some of those people that I only had chatted with facebook, and they were even more amazing in person!! Also, I had seen the Strongman coach, Cat, working out, and that lady is a beast. I had never really met her before today, and she was SOOOO kind, and even took the time to ask me what I thought about the lifts we did and ask me how I did since it was my first time. Blown away by the amazingness of yet another CF coach. Needless to say, I am super excited to make Strongman a part of my CF workout schedule and to start attending every Sunday!!

So CF:

Strongman class

-keg carry - 75lbs

-farmer carry - 120lbs in each hand (that's right 240lbs, and I did down and back in the

triple wide)

-attending Strongman class today really solidified that I can lift heavy weights. And that I need to not be too scared when I am in a workout. I need to just do it!!

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon

Snack - handful cashews before CF

Lunch - spicy stuff pepper

Snack - almond butter and apple

Dinner - beef and broccoli

Snack - still too early to tell...we will see if I need something before bed :)

Beef and Broccoli (I made enough just for one serving because I had bought grass fed beef a few weeks ago, and since it is so expensive, I only purchased 1/2 pound)

1/2lb beef

1 head bok choy

1/2 bag frozen broccoli

sesame oil

coconut aminos

ginger

garlic

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

1. Heat sesame oil, ginger and garlic in stir fry pan

2. Add beef that has been cut up into 1" cubes.

3. When seared/cooked mostly to your liking add bok choy and broccoli. May add a little more sesame oil if needed.

4. Let simmer for a short amount of time, add coconut aminos (like 1-2 tablespoons), salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

5. Let simmer a bit more, as it takes a bit of time for bok choy and broccoli to cook.

Enjoy!

Day 28 of 90

Even though I got 10+ hours of sleep last night, I still didn't make it to CF. I figured it was best to take it easy after the migraine yesterday. I ended up just running errands done, and having a great quiet day. :) I had to grocery shop, hit the post office, write thank you notes, the usual stuff. And to solidify my choice of not going to CF? I took a 3 hour nap today too. I must be fighting something off. But then I got up and made myself stuffed peppers. Yum :)

No Workout today.

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, chicken sausage

Snack - almond butter and apple

Snack - radishes and guacamole

Dinner - Stuffed peppers

Snack - to be determined...I don't think I ate too much today

Spicy Stuffed Peppers

3-4 bell peppers (I bought a 3 pack from Hannaford cause it was 3.99, and individually the red, orange and yellow were 3.99 a pound...better buy!)

1/2 onion

1 mushroom

1 lb ground turkey

2 cups grated cauliflower (I used frozen, and just mashed it up with a fork and my fingers)

garlic (minced from the jar)

Montreal Steak Seasoning

Crushed Peppers

Cayenne pepper

Cumin

Coconut oil

Olive Oil or Coconut Oil Spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Clean all veggies, slice pepper tops off (about 1/2" to 1" from top...might have to go smaller if it is a smaller pepper), clean out the inside of the peppers as well

3. Prepare cauliflower, I microwaved it for a minute 30 and then mashed it with my fork and fingers (this way it was kinda soft, but not too hot to touch)

4. Cook turkey in skillet, and add Montreal steak seasoning. The recipe I used called for more pepper and salt, I left this out because I think there is plenty in the Montreal.

5. After turkey is done, remove from skillet (I just put it on a clean plate). Add a little coconut oil, onion, mushroom (the recipe I used called for a tomato, I'm not a huge tomato fan, but I always eat it...I just didn't have any in the house), and garlic to skillet and saute.

6. Add cauliflower, then turkey and mix for 2-3 minutes, this is when I added the crushed red

pepper, cayenne, and cumin to the mix.

7. Allow it to cool, then stuff the peppers, recap the peppers, then spray the outside of the peppers with coconut oil. (The recipe said to brush the outside with olive oil...I had the coconut spray...so I used it) :)

8. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Or until the peppers are golden brown and kinda soft. Mine came out perfect at 18 minutes. The left over meat mix that wasn't stuff-able, I just lined around the peppers to hold them up right and to bake the meat up for leftovers too :)

Enjoy!! I sure did!! :) I had guacamole around, so I added a little on the side, and that really added a great kick to the meal!!

Day 27 of 90

Today was my first interview for residencies. Things went mostly okay. I didn't feel terrible leaving which was good. It was at the VA where I have worked for the past 2 years, and I still was wicked nervous walking through those doors. It is done though, so we are moving on to the next one on Monday at St. Peters.

About 5 hours into the interview day, I developed a massive sinus migraine thingy. I have no idea where this thing came from, but I was getting all sorts of nausea and couldn't wait until I was able to get home. I stopped at Walgreens after the interview was over, loaded up with Afrin, Sudafed, and Tylenol and dosed myself. I thought I would nap when I got home at 440 but I think the Sudafed kept me from sleeping. I was feeling crummy. I had full intentions this AM to hit CF at 6pm like normal, but this headache wasn't letting me go anywhere. And of course around 630 I was starving, not feeling like making anything, and didn't want to drive to Chipotle to get a salad bowl. So I did something I didn't want to, but it was the only way to feed myself with minimal effort. Last year I found these raw chicken that are "stuffed", I lived off them. They had a broccoli and cheese one and spinach florentine (of course more cheese). I had some broccoli and cheese ones left in the fridge. And that is what I had for dinner. 2 chicken, 360 calories. Cheese. FML. It's the first time, but I just needed to eat something easy. I remember why I liked the processed foods before...ease. Sigh. Back on the bandwagon tomorrow after I get to the grocery store.

Food:

Breakfast - 3 eggs

Snack - carrots

Lunch - grilled chicken salad

Snack - like 10 pistachios

Dinner - bad chicken :(, sweet potato fries, brussel sprouts and cauliflower

I'm going to bed early, hoping I kick this headache, cause now I gotta CF tomorrow to get rid of this crap I ate.

Day 26 of 90

Today happened. I forgot my charger for my computer (that only runs for about 2 and a half minutes without being plugged in) so I couldn't get any productive work done at rotation today. Shocking. Tomorrow is my first interview, so I think that is having a lot to do with my forgetfullness, my anxiousness, my "tizzy" that I am in. Just gotta get through tomorrow. And the 3 weeks following that with interviews.

I had a great workout tonight. I had to get it in cause, let's face it, it makes me forget, it gives me something fun to do, and I really enjoy being there. Tonight was a lighter night, but a lot of heavy lifting. I pushed myself, threw on insane jumps in weight as I was trying to hit my heavy 1RM, and had a good night I think. We worked on some split jerks tonight, and that was awesome to see my stability, and I think I will be able to hit a high weight when we do a repeat at the end of the 90 day challenge. The coaches, Jay and Ari, that were there tonight were fantastic as always. Enjoyable, cheerful, and cheering the shit outta you to push harder. Loved it. At one point Jay just said "that's too light" and gave me an eye, and finished with "I'm not telling you to put on more weight" but that was enough to push me to put on more weight to finish my work out. Felt GREAT! Every work out I am always thankful for the coaches that know to push you, that know you can do better and want you to do better. That on top of the amazing community that I experience each and every time I attend just blows me away. Thank you everybody.

CF workout:

I. Split jerk training

II. 6 rounds w/ 3 minutes rest in between

-5 tough push presses (weight: 105, 95, 95, 95, 125!!)

-AMRAP pull ups (aka ring rows) - 10, 10, 9, 9, 10

II. 500m Row - 2:03 (thanks to my workout buddy Kim and great friend Karrah for cheering me on)

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 chicken sausage

Snack - carrots, egg quiche thing that Kim brought me to work (amazing!), apple w/ almond butter (this whole snack really became my lunch)

Lunch - 1/2 Wenda Salad (cause I was hungry at like 230)

Snack - Cashews

Post-workout Protein

Dinner - Spaghetti squash and meat sauce

I gotta get to bed. Big day tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes ;)

Day 25 of 90

Tonight I kept my day of rest from CF and worked on getting my portfolio ready for my first interview on Friday. I was able to get it all printed and into a binder, so it was a successful rest day. Tomorrow I plan on hitting the 6pm WOD, skipping games :( and getting some interview questions and a good nights rest in before Friday morning.

CF: no workout, rest day

Food:

Breakfast - 3 eggs

Snack - blueberries

Lunch - Wenda Salad

Snack - carrots and cashews

Dinner - Pizza

Snack - apples with almond butter! YUM :)

Pizza: same as what I made before for football Sunday, only this time I put spinach/garlic chicken sausage on it. Here's the picture!!

Happy hump day all! :) The week is almost over!! YAY!!

Day 24 of 90

Repeat day. Tuesday. Boring. Haha, I can say at this point I have heard back from 6 of 8 places that I applied to and I have 4 interviews in the next month!! Holy crap, lots of planning to be done to get ready, plus missing CF cause I am going out of town for 2 of them. It's gonna be a rough month, but like everything I am doing in this 90 day challenge...it can be done!!

Food for the day:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon, Naked Orange Carrot juice (8oz)

Snack - blueberries

Lunch - Wenda Salad

Snack - apple and almond butter! YUM!!

Pre-workout snack - cashews

Post-workout protein shake

Dinner - spaghetti squash and sauce with meatballs

Workout:

CF Warmup x 2 rounds

I. Press 10x2 - light (65lbs)

II. "Help Myself" = 14:34

-14 ring rows

-14 ring push ups (the combo of the ring acts = 7 muscle ups)

-14 power cleans (85lbs)

-21 burpees

III. Toes to bar (aka knees to chest)

-5x15, rest 1 minute in between

With the interviews coming up (first one this Friday, in town) I really need to figure out my workout schedule...I could make a workout Friday night, but since I am going to be in Albany and I might want to meet up with a friend. Plus, Games has been moved to 8pm on Thursdays, which doesn't work with my schedule exactly, and I want to be well rested for my interview on Friday and not gimping around like a loser. hahaha We will see. Goal is to still get 4 workouts in this week. I will go Saturday if I have to this time!!!

Day 23 of 90

Today was a hard day. I ate breakfast as usual, blueberry snack as usual (well the snack part), and lunch as usual. After lunch though, I was not satisfied. I wanted something else. I was thinking sweet. I was having a hard time today. I didn't cheat, but I was struggling. It was a great comfort knowing I could post on the 90 day challenge wall on facebook about my struggle and so many other CFers immediately posted about ways to remedy my issue. A reminder of the community that I love having at CF :) What a great bunch of people, some of who I probably have only said Hi to or maybe never have even met!! Lesson of the day? ALMOND BUTTER AND APPLES ALWAYS AS A SNACK!

CF was insane. We met "Karen" tonight. And let me tell you, she was a b*%t@h. HOLY CRAP! 150 wallballs? Are you kidding me? Rx at 14lbs? GOOD GRIEF. I did it, I pushed through, and I made it. 11:29. Nothing spectacular. But under the allotted time, and I finished!!

Workout:

I. 10 minutes working on double unders and lat jumps over the pirolette bar

II. "Karen"

-150 wallballs (14lbs = RX!!) in 11:29

III. 3 rounds max rep pull ups (3 minutes rest in between)

-5, 3ish, 4 with a blue band...I'm doing pull ups! (kinda :))

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon, Naked Mighty Mango (10oz)

Snack - blueberries

Lunch - Wenda Salad w/ buffalo chicken! yum

Snack - (right after lunch practically) pistachios

Post workout Protein shake

Dinner -spaghetti sauce with meatballs, left over brussel sprouts and cauliflower, small mixed green salad with balsamic vinegar

Snack - apple with almond butter!! FAVORITE!! :)

Day 22 of 90

Holy I've finished 3 whole weeks with no carbs, no pasta, no sugar, no alcohol, no breads...woah.

Today I put some hours in doing research at the VA, but before I headed down to Albany, I set some meatballs and sauce cookin in the Crockpot! Wooo! Recipe and lots of pictures below.

No CF today cause it is Sunday, and Sundays = day of rest. I'm hoping to make 4 classes this coming week, but I am debating how I am going to do that...Thursdays game night have been moved to 8pm. If I have an interview on Friday like I think I am going to, I will have to skip games this Thursday, but we will see what happens.

Food:

Breakfast - wasn't up early enough

Snack - apple and almond butter

Lunch - 3 eggs and 3 bacon

Snack - nuts and cranberries/raisins mix

Dinner - Spaghetti squash and meatballs, roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower

Meatballs and Sauce

Meatball necessities:

1ish lbs ground beef (94% lean...probably why they didn't stay together very well)

1ish lbs spicy italian sausage

chopped celery

chopped carrots

chopped yellow onion

chopped garlic

2 eggs

1/3 cup almond flour

oregano

pepper

cayenne pepper

salt

Sauce extras:

spinach

red onion

mushrooms

zucchini

1. Chop all veggies up, put in large bowl.

2. Add everything else for meatballs into bowl, and mix together with hands.

3. Form into balls, and place into Crockpot

4. Cover with spaghetti sauce

5. Put red onion, mushrooms and zucchini (all chopped up) on top of sauce, add seasonings that you want in sauce.

6. Simmer for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low (just check the balls to see if they are cooked if you are getting close on time, but antsy cause of the great smell)

7. I added spinach when there was about 45 minutes to an hour left of cooking just so there were more veggies in the sauce.

8. Enjoy over spaghetti squash

Life Reminders

A friend posted the link to this article today...and I think that it is something important that we all ponder upon... :)

8 Harsh Truths that Will Improve Your Life

They say life is what we make of it. By the end of this post, I hope to have helped you decide whether that statement is true or not.

There is no doubt that life has its ups and downs. However, how we deal with them can sometimes make all the difference. Today I want to share eight harsh truths that I've come to learn from life. There's also a message in each that I think we can all learn from, and when applied, will improve our lives infinitely.

Some of these lessons may be old-hat for you. If so, look for ways to refine the idea to ensure your getting the most out of it. On the other hand, you may completely disagree with an idea or two and that's great! Let us know your thoughts so we can all learn from each other.

1. Friends Come and Go
   When I was in high school, I always imagined spending most of my life with the same people. Then when I realized I had to move to college, that all changed. Once again, I made some close college friends but left them all behind when I moved from the UK to South Africa.
   
   Friends will always come and go in your life; even though I'm back in the UK now, all my friends are in university around the country and not exactly in meeting distance. It can be a hard thing to accept, but many of the friends you spend time with now, might not be around in the next few years.
   
   Important Lesson: There are an abundance of amazing people out there for you to meet and build relationships with. If you don't have many friends, don't stress, there are literally billions of friendship possibilities.


2. You Won't Always Get What You Want
   I remember one Christmas when the only thing I had asked for was some second hand turntables for DJ'ing. I didn't ask for anything else so I was pretty sure I would get them. However, they didn't come and I ended up having to save for 10 months on my own in order to purchase them.
   
   You won't always get what you want in life: people are going to be late, people will let you down, items you want won't always be available.
   
   Important Lesson: Don't look for happiness in material possessions and if things don't go your way, learn to accept them. Life's too short to stay miserable.
   


3. Many People Will Love You, but Many Will Not
   Whether you are a celebrity, a charity worker or just a normal guy, there are going to be people that love you and what you do, but there's also going to be plenty people that don't like you. There are many possible reasons such as jealousy, similarities to them, or just not being someone's 'type'.
   
   Important Lesson: Not everyone is always going to like you, and that's fine. If people want to spend time talking about you then that is their problem. You are perfect as you are. You shouldn't need everyone to like you to have some form of self-esteem.
   


4. Nobody Can Transform Your Life Like You Can
   Wouldn't it be lovely if we didn't have to go up on stage, but we could just read a paragraph of a blog post and become a perfect public speaker? Or, wouldn't it be nice if our friends could do daring things, and we would benefit from them as well?
   
   The support and help of others can only take you so far, you're going to have to do your own thing to make big changes in your life situation.
   
   Important Lesson: Do things for yourself and learn to stand on your own two feet. People you rely on won't be around forever, and you don't want to have to use others as a crutch to get anywhere in life.
   


5. You Are Going to Fail
   I built more than 7 websites before I created one that actually started making me any money. I even put hundreds of hours into my own company that I actually closed down last month. Whether it is exams, projects, companies, or even the odd pub quiz, there are times when you will fail to meet your goals.
   
   As the saying goes - "Only those who are asleep make no mistakes".
   
   Important Lesson: You can learn a lot from others, but it is your own failures that are going to teach you the most valuable lessons in life. Learn from your failures, embrace them, and use them to drive you on to success.


6. Rain Will Sometimes Cancel Play
   On some occasions when you have your shorts on and you're ready for the beach, it's going to rain. Or, when you get to that first hole and you're ready to tee off - the clouds will open. Things aren't always going to go how you would like them to.
   
   Important Lesson: Don't stress about the things that you can't control. Learn to live with things that happen. You can't change the past, but you can change how you react to things.


7. There May Be No Tomorrow
   At least, not for you anyway. We never know what is around the corner, a car crash, a heart attack; heck...even the end of the world is possible. Let's face it, although we would all like to live till we are 70 years old, that's certainly not always the case. There will be one day that is our last.
   
   Important Lesson: Make the most of each day. Make sure the people you care about actually know it, don't worry about little matters, just make sure you spend time doing the things you love.
   


8. Someone Else Will Always Have More
   Whether it is money, partners, friends or even blog subscribers, there will always be areas where other people have more than you. That isn't to say you can't become abundant in whatever you want (i.e. someone always had more money than Warren Buffett until 2008 when he was noted to be the richest man in the world).
   
   The wanting of more actually holds a very important lesson...
   
   Important Lesson: Just because someone has 'more', that doesn't mean they are happy. Read the biography of any celebrity and they will tell you they enjoy their process of earning money, rather than what money can do to make them happy. In other words, focus on what you love, not what the thing you love can get you.

BONUS: Linking all the lessons here together is actually quite simple, and I can share the majority of what you need to know to enjoy life in a few simple bullet points:

• Live life for the moment


• Accept what is, even if things don't go your way


• Happiness is here, right now if you stop resisting and start accepting

Available from: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/02/8-harsh-truths-that-will-improve-your.html

Day 21 of 90

A little late...but it's still getting done. Today was a lazy day. It was snowing when I got up, and the roads at my apartment weren't plowed, so there was no way I was making it to CF. Suck.

When the roads cleared, I hit the grocery store with my roommate. Hung out for the day, nothing too major. I need to do some work to make some money, so hopefully I will stop being lazy and do that tomorrow (Sunday).

Let's see food for the day (it was Left Overs Saturday...gotta get ready for the new week...)

Breakfast - Left over spaghetti sauce with ground turkey and chicken sausage in it

Snack - Nuts and dried cranberries/raisins mix

Lunch - Lo Mein left overs

Dinner - Sweat potato fries and Bacon Wrapped Scallops over mixed greens

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Scallops

Bacon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2.Make sure scallops are defrosted (mine are all frozen...how I purchased them)

3. Cut bacon in half.

4. Wrap scallops with bacon

5. Line in pan

6. Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper

7. Bake for 20 minutes

8. Flip, season, bake for another 10-15 minutes.

(Please ignore the mess, as mine didn't stay together too well...it was a struggle)

9. Eat plain or put on salad like I did :)

Day 20 of 90

Today was Friday!!! Love Friday, love the weekend coming up...such a wonderful thought to get me through the day.

CF...what an intense night. I knew when I looked at it, that it would be tough, but I didn't think it would be that awful. Boys was I only slightly off...it was wicked hard...but I made it (even though I didn't finish...I don't think many people did...)

I. Group dynamic warmup

II. "Elizabeth" 21-15-9

-Squat cleans - 65lbs

-Ring dips (aka ring push ups for me!)

6 minutes rest

III. 10 rounds

-15 deadlifts - same 65 lbs

-15 pushups

I finished 9 rounds, and it was 32:40...we were given a 30 minute time limit, but I was close and wanted to try to get done. I didn't. But that is okay. Room to improve for the end of the 90 day challenge!!

Food:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 3 bacon

Snack - strawberries

Lunch- Wenda Salad

Snack - cashews

Dinner - Thai food! Panang Curry, instead of rice I asked them to add mixed veggies into my curry. IT was absolutely wonderful, even better than when I have had it with rice. It hit the spot, and it was exactly the right amount of spicy and not my home made cooking I needed for night 20 of the 90 day challenge. Three weeks in!!! Wow. I feel like I am still going strong, but I know I've only finished 3 of 12 weeks. OOooh that's 1/4th of the way there!! Let's go 90 day challengers!!

Day 19 of 90

What can I say...I think I am going to mention practically every day about how boring and routine my life is. Sorry.

CF: Games night! My favorite hour of the week. We climbed the cargo net...wicked scary. Did some relay races, and finished up with kickball!! But since Games night is back on Thursdays, and my schedule is regimented these days, that it'll be best for me to play games only on Thursday as an active rest day, and make sure my butt is at CF on Saturdays for 4 days of working out each week.

Food:
Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon

Snack - orange

Lunch -Wenda Salad

Snack - pistachios, a few cashews before CF

Dinner - left over Chicken and Shrimp Veggie Lo-Mein.

Day 18 of 90

Happy Hump Day! Guess what! Same story, different day.

No Workout. Wednesday = Rest day

Meals:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon, Naked Juice

Snack - pineapples

Lunch - Wenda Salad

Snack - cashews

Dinner - Meat sauce and spaghetti squash, small bowl of Veggie Lo-mein for veggies.

Snack - infamous apple and almond butter :) yum

Have a great Thursday all!

Day 17 of 90

Tuesday. Nothing more. Just Tuesday.

Worked. CF. The usual. I'm beginning to think that this blog is too boring for you people :) And by you people I mean, the random people that may or may not actually read this. Haha

CF:

I. 3 rounds: rope climb, 20 squats. Yeah I did the 20 squats, attempted the rope, and another 20. Pissed time part 1.

II. "Isabel" - round 2 of pissed-ness tonight.

-30 Snatches...I did at 75lbs after Josh told me to bump up 10lbs. I finished this in 2:17. Are you kidding me?!?! SO stupid. I needed more weight, and I just underestimated myself.

Josh (one of the coaches) is always giving me a hard time about going too light. I need to

kick it up a notch. ARGGGGG SOOO ANGRY!

III. 100 push ups

IV. 100 Ab-mat sit ups

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 bacon, some Naked Juice (Mighty Mango)

Lunch - Wenda Salad :)

Snack - Strawberries, then cashews before working out

Dinner - left over veggie lo-mein, finished the pizza

Have a great Wednesday everybody!!!

Day 16 of 90

Happy MLK Day! I got to enjoy a day off from rotation. So I spent most of my late morning, early afternoon with my friend Liz and her wonderful twins :) Gotta love cuddles with the babies!!!

Before I headed to CF, I made Chicken and Shrimp Veggie Lo-Mein. Sooo yummy, I was so excited to get home from the gym to eat it haha

Here's the recipe:

~3/4 lb chicken

~3/4 lb shrimp

1/2 head cabbage sliced

1/2 red onion sliced

6 mushrooms sliced

1 green onion bunch chopped

3 celery chopped

2 carrots shredded

almonds

water chestnuts

bamboo shoots

broccoli

minced garlic

ginger powder

coconut aminos

sesame oil

1. Heat sesame oil in large pot (like what you would make pasta in)

2. Add chicken that was cut into pieces and shrimp and cook until mostly done

3. Add broccoli, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and red onions into pot and cook for 5 minutes

4. Add cabbage, green onions, almonds, garlic, ginger, and about 2-4 tablespoons of coconut aminos.

5. Let cook down until cabbage is soft.

6. I let it simmer on low for a little bit until I was content with how it all mixed together and the almonds were crunchy but not too hard :)

Let's see food for the day was awful though:

Breakfast - I had left over pizza from Football Sunday. My friends didn't finish their 3/4's of the pizza, and I didn't want the $11 almond flour to go to waste, so I brought the left overs home. Their side had mozz cheese on it. It wasn't a lot. But it was cheese :(

No Snacks

Lunch - another slice of pizza cause I hadn't cooked for the day/week yet :(

No Snack

Dinner - Veggie Lo-Mein

Snack - probably an apple with some almond butter in a little bit

Total crap day...and I could tell I didn't have enough water today when I was working out.

Workout:
I. Group dynamic - running, high knees, butt kicker,s crab walks, etc

II. Hanging Squat Cleans 5x3

-65lbs, 75, 85, 95, 105 (probably shoulda pushed this a little more)

III. 12 Minute AMRAP

-10 wall balls (14lbs)

-5 toes to bars (knees to chest)

I completed 10 rounds +2 wall balls in the 12 minutes.

I also found rounds of Fran and Grace that I completed in November. Since I took the month of December off, I am using those 2 as my baseline scores for the 90 day challenge.

Fran: Thrusters and Ringrows -55lbs, I guess I didn't write down a time...crap.

Grace: 30 Clean and Jerks - 75lbs in 3:17

Day 15 of 90

Today was Football Sunday. The Texans played the Ravens and the Giants are currently playing the Packers. Both games have been pretty good so far.

I decided I would try Paleo Pizza, Wings and Sweat Potato Fries for my friends and I that I was hanging out with. So here are the pictures, recipes and my thoughts...

Wings...

2.5lbs (1 frozen bag) of wings

1 cup almond flour

cayenne pepper

nutmeg

garlic powder

onion powder

lemon pepper

ground pepper

Italian seasoning

Coconut oil spray

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Mix all the dry powders together in a large bowl. Spray wings with coconut oil, a put them all in the bowl and mix til all covered. (this was pretty difficult, the powder wasn't sticking)

3. Place in baking pan, and spray again with coconut oil, place in oven. I did this for about 20 minutes cause my wings were frozen.

4. Flips wings, and spray again, and bake for another 10-15 minutes (until the wings are cooked).

This is what they looked like baking, and they had okay flavor. I was disappointed though. I guess it really just wasn't not what I was hoping for.

The Sweat Potatoes were too easy to mess up :)

3 sweat potatoes

coconut oil spray

salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Cut and slice into fry size pieces

3. Place on baking sheet, spray with coconut oil and season with salt and pepper

4. Bake for a total of 25-30 minutes, but flip and re-spray about halfway through.

These had great taste and were really good. Not too crispy, but that's okay.

Finally, the Pizza. Which looks amazing. And I enjoyed the 1st piece, it was the 2nd piece I was a little overwhelmed with.

Crust:

3 cups almond flour

3 eggs

garlic powder

baking soda

olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients together. Make a dough.

3. Spread dough on to baking sheet that was sprayed with coconut oil.

4. Bake for 10 minutes.

Toppings: I used hot italian sausage, pepperonis, red bell peppers, red onion (and put cheese on the part for my friends)

5. Cook toppings that need to be (ie: sausage)

6. Spread pizza/spaghetti sauce on crust

7. Add toppings

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Watching closely, the crust can burn easily.

Like I said, I enjoyed the first piece. The crust was nutty and almost a little too sweet for me. When I had a bite of crust with the onion though, it was a good bite. The 2nd piece I had to force myself to finish. But it was still good. We'll see if I make it again.

Overall, I was a little bummed by what I made. I know it wasn't the best for what I was showing my friends of the Paleo diet. Even more, it didn't satisfy my wanting of pizza and wings while being on the paleo diet. I followed what I could eat (no preservates, no cheese, no sugars), and tried. We'll see if I make it again, or if I can find something else to try.

Didn't hit CF today, been having a lot of muscle cramping...which is weird, but I started my multivitamin today to get a bit of potassium to deal. We'll see how it goes. CF tomorrow at 6pm, and a day off. Thank goodness :)

Day 14 of 90

Well today shoulda been more successful, but it wasn't. Mostly in part because I slept til 130pm and didn't get out of bed til after 2pm. I went to bed at 11 last night. I guess the week finally caught up to me.

I had goals of getting to CF to make up Fran and Grace today...didn't happen. Had a plan of cleaning the house today...didn't happen. (It still might, the night it young) I did make it to the grocery store and I did make dinner. I spent a little more than I had planned on for the week's food (after last weeks shopping, I have most everything I need aside from veggies), but tomorrow is Football Sunday with Jeff and Collin. We are gonna watch the Giants game, play Wii, just spend good quality time together :) So I told the boys I would make pizza and wings the way I could eat them, so I had to buy the ingredients for that. I will post both recipes and pictures tomorrow!!!

Tonight for dinner, I made ol faithful...spaghetti squash with a meat sauce. I made this the first week of the challenge, and loved it. This time I added a mild Italian chicken sausage I found at Hannaford. It was one of their "All Natural" items, so it was just meat and seasonings. It tasted pretty good with my ground turkey and sauce :) Win. And I topped dinner off with pineapple. Even after I sliced my thumb. Don't tell my dad but thank goodness I went out and bought butterfly bandaids after I stepped on that piece of glass. I was being stupid with the butcher knife this time, and hit the top of my thumb near my nail perpendicularly with the knife. Don't ask. But for a deep as it was, the butterfly bandaid saved the day. haha

Back to the football games...Praying the Saints get their act together for this 2nd half, and I have no idea who to root for in the next game. Probably the Pats, cause they are the go to, but Tebow just has so much funny stuff being made about him, I just have to laugh and enjoy that and kinda want him to win cause everybody does make fun of him. I have no alligance to either team. I want the Saints to win and the Giants tomorrow cause that's who the boys love.

Watch this if you need some laughs about Tebow :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHB0o9lCizQ

Day 13 of 90

It's Friday the 13th! What a weird day. Nothing too crazy happened, but you could feel a weird something in the air.

Same ol type of day...work and crossfit. I know...marvelous life that I lead. Haha

CF workout today was:

I. Group dynamic/joint mobility

II. Tall cleans

5-5-5-5-5

-I finished 4 rounds with 35lbs, 55, 65 and 75. I attempted 85, but didn't finish the round.

III. 3 rounds of:

-50 front squats (I used 25lbs)

-20 pull ups (I did ring rows)

-20 ring dips (I did ring push ups)

I finished this is 16:55 out of a 20 minute time limit.

Food:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 strips of bacon

Snack - a few cashews (I forgot my apple today :( )

Lunch - Salad (with buffalo chicken...totally had an awesome kick to it)

Snack - cashews (had to build energy before CF)

Dinner - Rosemary and Balsamic Chicken on a bed of Herb Salad, and brussel sprouts (I LOVE!)

Snack - I am planning...if I don't go to bed before 9:30 to have my apple with some almond butter.

Sorry Friday the 13th was so boring all. This weekend should be a little better with the blogging...Plus tomorrow marks 2 weeks into the challenge! Day 14!!

Day 12 of 90

Happy Thursday!! One more day til the weekend, and I am needing the weekend already...and it's a 3 day weekend!!!!

Work was the same as usual, slow though because of the weather. Although, in Averill Park, they are in a valley (which I didn't realize), so it barely looked like they got any snow last night, but they definitely had a ton of fog and gloomy-ness.

I spent a lot of my day trying to find a recipe for Paleo Chicken Wings because this weekend is FOOTBALL SUNDAY! (Don't worry, I know there are games on Saturday, but Sunday I am hanging out with the boys and watching the Giants) I think I have found a recipe and I will let you know on Sunday night how it turns out :)

Today CF was INSANE. Like these are the workouts the re-solidify the crazy that Caleb (one of our coaches) has talked about since literally DAY 1 of On Ramp. CRAZY. We did a work out called "Century"...and yes... the number 100 did come in to play...more than once. Here was the total work out:

I. Turkish Get-ups - 18lb kettlebell, we did 2 as a group (holy hard!!!), then worked on Pistols (1 legged squats)

II. "Century" - 30 minute time cap

100 kettlebell swings (American) - 26lb

5 minutes rest

100 burpees (I did 80)

5 minutes rest

100 Ab-mat situps

I finished at 28:30. Holy crap. Crazy. I thought I would do 60 burpees just to keep within the time cap, but when I got to 60, realized I had a few more minutes in the "burpee time frame", and Ari (another coach) helped push me to the decision to finish another 20. I'll probably hate her tomorrow for 5 seconds :)

Food for the day (it was left overs day!!)

Breakfast - Asian Shrimp Stir-Fry...finally gone!

Snack - Odwalla Berry Juice (10 oz around 830 am on my drive), pistachios (around 1130am)

Lunch - Wenda's Salad

Snack - Apple

Post-Workout Protein Shake

Dinner - Chicken Curry with Cauliflower "rice"

Tonight, I made chicken for tomorrow. Balsamic and Rosemary Chicken

3-4 chicken cutlets

olive oil

minced garlic

rosemary

salt

pepper

balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Line baking pan with foil, and line chicken on it.

3. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on each piece of chicken and rub it in.

4. I use the jar of minced garlic, and put a spoonful of what I think I will like on each piece, then take my spoon and spread the garlic all over each piece.

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper on each piece of chicken

6. Sprinkle rosemary on chicken in an amount you find appropriate

7. Bake chicken for 25 minutes (well that's what my oven needs at 400 degrees)

8. If you are eating it that night, pour balsamic vinegar over chicken after it comes out of the over and you are about to serve it. If not, I plan to reheat my chicken, then pour the balsamic on.

Yum :) - sorry no pictures today, I rushed through making the chicken cause I wanted to eat dinner while it was baking haha, next time I make it...there will be pictures.

Day 11 of 90

Well, day 11...not much to say...it's Wednesday haha

As per usual, in my glamorous life as a pharmacy intern finishing rotations....I went to rotation from 9-5. I did not work out today (Wednesday = rest day). So I hit the mall in search of work pants. I discovered a tear in my pants yesterday at the gym, so since I don't sew (eventually one day I will...I will be a good house wife hahahaha)...I had to go buy new pants. I figured I would just "look" at New York and Co. They are my favorite store to find work clothing, but their pants never fit me right. I was walking in, and the first thing I see $10 pants!! For the first time in my life, I was glad I wear the size dress pants I do! Those were the only size they had, plus a size bigger. I'll try on both sizes for shits just to see. I normally find 1 pair of pants, try them on, hate them, leave pissed, and have no pants. I tried on 6 pairs this time, and walked out with 3 pairs of pants!!

Now is this just me or ladies with shorter legs...when you try on "petite" pants, does it seem like the pant size goes down 1 size?! So frustrating, but I found a pair of "petite" pants, a size bigger, but they fit. No alterations needed. Now I am going to have to alter the other 2 pairs, but hey...3 pants...36 bucks after tax? I'll take it.

So for the food:

Breakfast -2 eggs, Naked Mighty Mango (10 oz)

Lunch - Wenda's salad

Snack - orange

Dinner - leftover Chicken Curry

Snack - celery w/ almond butter (yum!)

Today was the first day that I was still feeling like I wanted something else, something sweet, or cheese. Its been a tough day, but I'm pushing through and staying strong. Hopefully I will have a new chicken dish tomorrow, or maybe I'll make bacon wrapped scallops since I have all the ingredients :)

Day 10 of 90

Another successful day! Work was great, I'm really enjoying this rotation that I am on, and hope to learn so much. I forgot how much I do actually miss being in a retail pharmacy, and I love the small community pharmacy setting. Sigh. If only it was this easy to decide what job I want in real life in the next 4 months. Haha

Hit CF after work like normal...great work-out.

I. Heavy weight deadlift x 7 - ended up doing my heaviest at 185lbs

II. 3 rounds of ARMAP in 1 minute

-Kettlebell swings (26lbs)

-Box jumps (20 inch)

-Toes to bar (I did knees to chest)

-Jumping lunges (I did regular lunges)

-Rest 1 minute and repeat

Round counts: 77, 74, 77

III. Tabata push ups - I completed 42 pushups in the 4 minutes. Ouch.

I made dinner tonight, Chicken Curry with Cauliflower rice. Due to my lack of a food processor/ blender/ magic bullet /any thing like that, my "rice" did not come out, but I softened it and sauteed it on the stove a little, so I could still eat it underneath my curry. Recipe below after my day of eating. Cauliflower "rice" recipe will come out another day, when i figure out how to do it and have a product I am more proud of :)

Breakfast - Leftover Asian Shrimp Stir-fry (gotta finish it up! Its hard cooking for 1...so I just try to have leftovers for the week. It works with my busy schedule, so I don't have to cook as often)

Snack - Blueberries

Lunch - Wenda's Salad (turkey, tomatoes, onions, bacon)

Snack - Apple, pistachios...then at 5pm I was hungry as I was heading to the gym and grabbed some green bell peppers and a few almonds

Post-work out protein shake

Dinner - Chicken Curry with Cauliflower "rice"

Chicken Curry (Remember I estimate a lot of my measurements)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbs ground ginger

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs ground cumin

1 Tsp ground coriander

1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbs curry powder

1/2 Tsp ground cloves

1/2 Tsp ground black pepper

1 Tsp sea salt

6 mushrooms

2 carrots

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

4-5 green onions chopped

2 Tbs coconut oil

1 (403ml) can unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 red onion diced

1. Mix the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, curry powder, cloves, sea salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.

2. Chop the chicken breast into 1" pieces and put in the bowl with the spices to coat the chicken. Set aside

3. Wash and prepare the mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, carrots...all the veggies. Set Aside.

4. Over medium heat, add the 2 Tbs coconut oil to large pot. When hot, add chicken, mushrooms, bell peppers, and coconut milk. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.

5. Add remaining veggies, and cook til chicken is done (about 5-10 minutes).

6. Serve over cauliflower "rice" and enjoy!!

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