And so it begins... 2013 here I come!

I love January 1st.  It always bring such fresh hope.  A promise of a wonderful new year and all of the exciting new things it will bring... and the challenges, too.

I tend to live my life in chapters, and don't do much looking back, and so I am a big fan of NEW, of STARTING OVER, of CHANGE, of IMPROVEMENT... KAIZEN is my 2013 mantra.

I love new calendars, new notebooks, new workout logs, new food trackers... the blank, fresh pages make me excited about the entries I will write and the stories that will reveal themselves to me, there.  I always kind of feel like the words are already written, I just have to find them.

Today I am starting the Whole30 Challenge. It is a 30 day program of eating the Paleo style - no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no alcohol, no added sugars/sweeteners,  and no creating 'desserts' or 'frankenfoods' (even with allowed ingredients) such as coconut panckakes, almond meal cookies, and the like.  I spent some time going through the cupboards removing things that I thought might tempt me to stray... rice cakes, Popchips, and some Almond Joy and Reese's candy bars.  

The Captain is not doing this challenge but he completely understands why I am doing it, and is being very proactive in his support of my intentions and efforts.  We have discussed what I will and will not be eating, and why. 

He searched the food flyers this past week for things I might particularly like and yesterday dragged me out to 4 different stores to do some shopping, and has also told me we are heading to Costco on Thursday, too.   (I felt like STUFT Mama when I went through the checkout at my local produce market with a cart full of kabocha squashes.)

So, my cupboards are not bare of breads,  crackers, pasta, rice, cookies, and such things... but I am not tempted by them now since being gluten-free again these past 6 weeks, so I am hoping that they won't tempt me during this 30 Day Challenge either.

I am concerned about giving up wine again, a little... but already gave up alcohol for 18 months a short time ago while I was on strong meds for my eye surgeries and training for a half marathon last Winter/Spring, so I know that I will get over that quickly.  Besides, I made sure to get my quota in last night so not really wanting to have wine today anyway.   :)

I also made a batch of what I call Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup - and it's in the freezer.  If all else fails, and I run out of ideas, or start feeling sorry for myself, I can heat up a big bowl of comforting, tasty soup and reflect on  why I am doing this for a month.

So my freezer is full of chicken breasts and leftover turkey right now.... some homemade soup, and a turkey carcass waiting to be made into stock... There is also some extra lean ground beef that I will use later today to make a big pot of chili.  And that will be odd because I have never made chili without beans!

The fridge is stocked with all kinds of produce... salad greens and fixings, Chinese veggies for soups and stir-fries, almond milk, almond butter, several cartons of eggs and egg whites, peppers, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, olives, and ground flax seeds.

The pantry is full of cans of wild salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, tomatoes, chicken, coconut milk... hemp seeds, chia seeds, dried fruit, and nuts.

I have lots of fresh fruits, all kinds of squashes, and sweet potatoes..

What could possibly be at Costco that I haven't thought of yet? Perhaps some frozen fish?  We shall see.... who EVER goes to Costco and buys only what they planned?

So this morning I started the day with a lovely mandarin orange and my favorite dark coffee and then made us a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, egg whites, and onions.

We waited an hour and then did our 5km Resolution Run... it was kinda breezy and I wasn't feeling the need for speed today... but we got it done and I was happy for that.  We had to wear jackets and headgear and gloves to start out.  And after about 5 minutes I realized that we were wearing each other's jackets and had to exchange them... haha.  You will see in this picture that The Captain's jacket looks too small... it IS, cause it's mine.



Resolution Run 5km
W2 R36:25 W3 @10.5/1
stretch 15 minutes

We came in and peeled off our sweaty gear before drinking some water and stretching... then I ate a banana and immediately realized that I need to find something that I am going to be able to eat for recovery after a run or a workout while I am doing this Whole30 Challenge... I better get on Twitter and get some advice.  I cannot have protein powder this month, and I had eggs for breakfast so an egg didn't appeal to me... but maybe I should bake a dozen today so there will be some ready.   I was tempted to crack an egg into a glass of almond milk to make a 'nog' but just read a story about a guy dying from eating raw eggs (that perhaps had salmonella contamination) so I didn't....

And now it is lunch time....  and I am hungry!

How did you start the new year today?