The 2nd last day of my Whole30. It's not even hard anymore.. And while it'll be over by Tuesday, I have already started planning some meals for next week, and they're all as strict as I have been eating over the last 29 days. I'm certainly not in a hurry to add nuts and more fruits to my diet again. I do know that I will enjoy those next week, but not that much. Perhaps some berries and some walnuts. Not sure yet!
Today was a pretty relaxing day again, except for the workout I did this morning: - 5 rounds of 7x clean-front squat-press-back squat-press I started out with 20kg, but went back to 15kg because my clean technique was suffering from it. I'd rather do this correctly with less weight, than tiring myself out and suck at it at the same time.
Then we went on to the deadlifts! I like those much better :) Here's what we did: 1 - 10 - 1 - 20 - 1 - 30 reps (I did: 50kg - 40kg - 52,5kg - 40kg - 57,5kg - 40kg) Why the 57,5kg? I wanted to be able to deadlift my own weight, feels pretty awesome that you can actually lift yourself. We finished the whole workout off with 25 pull ups.
Back home I almost fell asleep on the couch, hmm.. But after an hour of resting I felt fine again and started working on my trip planning, once again. I only need to look up a few things about Chicago and that's it! But for now, I'm going to show you what I ate today and then I'm off to bed.
On to day 26. Just 4 more days to go, and hopefully less than that to beat this virus. I actually felt slightly worse this morning, but I took a whole lot of rest (the weather sucks over here so I didn't even go outside..) and am starting to feel better already. Let's hope another easy day tomorrow will work like magic, so I'll be all better by Saturday!
I mostly did some holiday planning today, and cooked a few dishes. It's nice to just be at home, taking your time to cook a good meal, allowing you to get a little more creative. Of course it isn't nice to be at home because you're not feeling well, but it's important to always look on the bright side! Regarding my trip (just 2 more weeks!!), I'm going to drive all the way to Oregon City (near Portland) for a workout at CrossFit Oregon City and figured I might as well go to the Multnomah Falls, which are close by. I've seen some pictures of those and they look absolutely stunning! I love waterfalls.. I don't think there's anything more beautiful in nature. I better keep a travel dairy next month, to keep track of what I did on which day as I've got so many things planned. Might be interesting to keep some sort of food log as well so I can do a 'how-to' blog post on road trip food. Hmm, I guess I'm going to finalize my 'planning' (which is always subject to change) tomorrow.
Here are my meals for day 26 of the Whole 30!
Breakfast: Egg salad, leftover ground beef and stir-fried swiss chard with some coconut milk
Woohoo! I did a double under!! My first one, ever :) Now all I need is a speed rope and lots of practice, and I'm sure I'll be able to do a few more soon. Perhaps I can find myself a speed rope in the USA next month. Can you believe it? I'll already BE in the USA next month! I'll even be there 3 weeks from now. (jetlagged, but happy)
Before I keep going on and on about my upcoming trip, I better tell you about today's CrossFit WOD at CrossFit Twente! It was a lot of fun again and I had a really good time. The WOD was pretty tough but not as tough as last time we went there.
We started with some stretching, then did 3 rounds of 15 wall balls and 5 toes to bars. At first I could hardly get my toes near the bar, but after a few attempts I kind of got the hang of the swinging and succeeded in doing 5 during the last round. Then came our WOD; Angie!
100 pull ups 100 push ups 100 sit ups 100 squats
The only thing missing was the actual song Angie playing while we did it, but I guess it wouldn't have been too motivational since it's a pretty slow song. When I was around my 80th sit up and my abs were burning and the question 'why am I doing this' was starting to form in my mind, Guns 'N Roses' Sweet Child O Mine started playing! Timing couldn't have been better, as that intro is the perfect motivation. Before I knew it, the rest of my sit ups were done and I only had to perform those squats. I finished at 24:04. Will be going to CrossFit Twente again next Saturday, and I already can't wait!
I'd almost forget to tell you about my PWO meal; I had fritatta with some carrots shortly after the WOD and that digested pretty quickly. I felt good after eating it though, didn't leave me tired at all, didn't bother my stomach.
Normally I either don't eat after a workout, or just have something small, and the biggest difference is that I wasn't tired when I got home at all, while I normally am! I just sat down for a while, then got hungry again and had 'dinner' at 3.45 PM. Quite early, but you better eat when you're hungry, right? I then cycled to the city center to get myself some goodies from the outdoor sports shop to take with my on my trip; BPA free plastic cutlery, concentrated laundry wash and hand sanitizer. They also had a pretty cool meal kit and a foldable bowl, but I figured I wasn't going on a survival trip and that I could just get myself a bowl or plate when I'm in the USA (after all, I am going to have to prepare some meals myself). I could've bought half of the items they had in store if I'd had the money, because in those stores, everything suddenly appears to be very useful while you'd actually never use it.
Today's breakfast was inspired by Rob's recipe at PrimalFood. It was really good! Instead of using tuna, I used mackerel, which worked really well. I also omitted the salsa (didn't have any) but replaced that with some lemon juice and ground black pepper. Yum! I served it with 1/2 tomato, a fried egg, and.... another batch of coconut baba ghanoush. I just love that stuff..
And these were my other meals:
Lunch (PWO): 2-egg fritatta with spinach, red onion and a small amount of leftover chicken, some carrots
Dinner: Cauliflower fried rice with onion, spinach and shii-take, and 2 beef burgers with carrot and onion mixed in
Day 17. Almost there. So how was everyone's 4th of July? I really wish that would be an official holiday over here as well, along with all the festivities. (even if it's just for the sake of having an extra holiday) I got 3 appointments at San Francisco CrossFit scheduled and confirmed today, and I'm all happy about it. I simply booked an 'Introduction to CrossFit' series; 3x 1 hour with a personal trainer, which they recommend when you're just starting out. I know I've already been doing CrossFit WODs a little longer now, but I'm still fairly new to it all and don't have enough experience to join in one of their group classes yet. Training with a personal trainer will definitely benefit my technique for certain lifts and movements and, -bonus!- I get to ask a whole lot of questions and get them answered too. Not that I'm the annoying question asking kind of person, I simply like the fact that I could be.
This weekend I also realised I have a small problem.. I do not fit into some of my clothes anymore. Did I just get fat? No.. But the size of my arms and shoulders has definitely increased over the last few months. Meaning I no longer fit into certain tops, including my favourite fitted jacket.. (unless I stand up straight and don't move at all, which is next to impossible for me) Does that mean there's a downside to CrossFit??
No!! It means I need to go shopping. What a shame...
Speaking of workouts, I just had another nice one! Warm up: 3 rounds of 30 seconds of each exercise: DB row / push ups / butterfly sit-ups / air squats
and then the WOD itself: 25 pull ups 400m run 21 thrusters (I used a 20kg barbell) 800m run 21 thrusters 400m run 50 push ups
My time: 18.43 (and a pool of sweat..)
And this is what went into my stomach today:
Breakfast: Leftover roasted veggies, fritatta with kohlrabi leaves and broccoli stems, and some shredded chicken with coconut lime cream
Lunch: 2 beef burgers with stir-fried broccoli and butternut squash
Dinner: Grilled trout with some roasted beets and stir-fried cabbage
Check out the teeth on this trout! I though it was really primal to serve it this way.
In my opinion, a satisfying, filling breakfast really gives you a good start for the day. In the mornings, my digestive system seems to work most efficiently and I often find myself getting hungry again before my lunch break at work. (which is when I take a quick walk to the restaurant and buy myself a boiled egg and sometimes a tomato as well) And it doesn't just work until lunch, everytime I get hungry before lunchtime, I will also get even more hungry before dinner. Hunger makes cycling back home, motivating myself to cook a nice dinner, and not collapsing on the couch afterwards become pretty hard. Let alone going for a workout in the evening!
So, a good breakfast is key! The breakfast I made this morning will certainly keep me going for a longer time and I'll be energized all through the day. I served this fritatta with 1/2 avocado on top, really good!
Oh and something completely different; I booked the perfect accomodation for Yosemite National Park last night! I'm going to stay at Curry Village, in a canvas tent. I always wanted to sleep in the park for a night and this seemed like the perfect way to do it. It's just for 1 night, but I'm going to love it. It's my second time visiting Yosemite NP so I felt I didn't need to stay there for a longer time. On my way there I'll drive over the Tioga pass (since I'm coming from Lake Tahoe) and I plan to do some hiking in the valley in the afternoon. Let's just hope no bears will pay curry village a visit when I'm there.. Just the idea that I need to store all food and scented items (toiletries and such) in a bear proof locker on the outside of my tent gets me all excited. (and hoping none will attack my tent of course, you never know, but if this would happen on a regular basis, the village would probably have closed down by now)
My flights have been booked! I really can't wait to go and booking my flights just made my trip to the USA come even closer. Of course I was kind of late in realising it would be convenient to have a debit card (for hotel reservations, car rental, etc) so I filled out an application form and I guess I will have to wait a little while longer before I can book a car and hotels. Although for some of those you don't need a creditcard or you can pay right away, I'll find out soon enough.
My dad's colleague lent me 2 really good travel books about the USA; Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, and Guide to the State Parks of the United States, both by National Geographic. They already caused me to change the route I'd planned a little. I've also started looking for places to eat, places to work out (CrossFit gyms!) and I'm 100% sure I'm going to enjoy myself over there. Plus, there are some great hiking and sightseeing opportunities along the road, especially in the National Parks and State Parks.
For dinner was this eggplant and sausage mash. Yum!
Just a quick post today.. Yesterday I've been busy planning my trip to the USA almost all afternoon and evening and it's not going as I want it to. I have way too many things I want to see, and too little time to do so. What a shame.. So now I've been thinking what places I should let go for now and what I want to see most of all. (which is pretty much everything I planned, but that's not going to work) I didn't even sleep that well because of it! Anyway, I went for a run this morning (I woke up early..) which went just great and made me realise I've still got plenty of time to figure all of this out. Maybe I should skip Colorado? I really don't want to though..
Anyway, I made some olive and basil tapenade this weekend. My first attempt on something like this. For serving, I chopped up a large tomato and a yellow pepper, but a generous amount (approx. 2 tbsp) of tapenade on top and mixed well. Along with some grilled salmon, it made a nice dinner.
A small update on my trip to New York: I found a wonderful place where you can get organic dairy-free ice cream. And it's not just their sorbet ice cream that's dairy-free, no EVERYTHING is dairy-free!! It's Ice Cream Heaven! The place is called Stogo, so go check out their website to see their flavours. The ice cream is either coconut-, hemp- or soy-based. Of course I won't have the soy ice-cream (another one of my food intolerances), but the coconut and hemp ice-cream are great options. And the flavours they offer are amazing; toasted almond joy, cookies 'n cream, key lime, peaches 'n cream, vanilla chocolate chip, maple walnut.. Yum! Everything's gluten-free too by the way! My mom and me have already been drooling just by reading the flavours on the phone, and we can't wait to try some of them. The place is pretty close to our hotel, but it should've been a little further so we'd have to exercise a little more to work the ice cream off. On their website they mention that they also feature other gluten-free vegan and raw desserts, and I can't wait to try those either. I guess we'll just have to get 2 scoops to eat right away, 2 for the walk home, and another type of dessert to enjoy back at the hotel. I don't see any other option!
Since I had to attend some classes today I needed to make myself a quick lunch. This fritatta is what came to mind and it worked out pretty well! Luckily I had a large part of the morning off so I went for a long run; 45 minutes. Had been a while since I ran any longer than 25 minutes but it felt so easy. It hardly took me any effort. I actually wanted to go to the gym tonight as well, but the whole afternoon has been really hectic and I'm tired now, so I won't go. I guess I'll just go to bed early tonight and go to the gym tomorrow.
I'm still in 'New York mode' today, makes me so happy :) I'm also still listening to the Abercrombie & Fitch playlist a few times a day. Very wrong, I know, but it gives me this summery feeling with songs like 'In The Navy' (Village People), 'Get Up' (Disco Brothers ft. Weather Girls) and 'I Love Saturday' (Erasure) and I removed a lot of depressing songs from my ipod too. Occasionally I find myself browsing NYC on Google maps, just to see if I can find some nice places to go. My mom and me came up with the idea to go to the cinema in the evening over there and we might go to a Broadway show as well. I'm not sure what's on next month, but I'll find out soon enough. I've also been browsing the USA map again to plan a trip, and I might just start in San Francisco or LA, drive through Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Vegas, Valley of Fire SP, Canyonlands, all the way through Colorado, into Utah and visit Salt Lake City and its surroundings, through to Wyoming and of course Yellowstone NP, grab a piece of Idaho along the way and go through to Montana, into Washington to see Seatlle. And if there's time left, down into Oregon because that appears to be a beautiful state too.
After all of that, I'll simply make a stop-over in Chicago for a few days because that's a city I really want to see. Now all I need is time and money...
This morning I spent some extra time making breakfast, just because I felt like it. I made yesterday's turnip parsnip fritters first, and then this quick and easy dish to go with it. Very yummy! It filled me all the way up and I feel ready to go to the gym for a good workout, CrossFit style! I love spending my Sunday mornings this way. The weather outside is beautiful and I got woken up by the birds, I feel good :) Yesterday I made the mistake of stepping into a bookstore and going to the travel section.. Made me want to buy so many great books and book a huge trip around the world! Maybe I can make a good Indian meal someday soon, I always love those and they make me feel like I'm on a trip. Another thing I did to get me into travelling mode was browsing the Abercrombie & Fitch website (my all-time favourite clothing store in the USA) and listening to their playlist. They always play very, very loud music in those stores, and it's often a little wrong, but I love it because of the feeling it gives me. Now all I need is some Starbucks tea and a trip to Whole Foods Market and I'll be in heaven!
What a pity.. I had a lot of parsnips in my fridge, waiting to be used. So I just had to bake something! I made this delicious parsnip pie. Not the most common way to use them, but certainly a good way. Since parsnips are quite starchy, just like pumpkins, I figured if I could make a pumpkin pie, then why not a parsnip pie! It's not as heavy as a pumpkin pie or cheesecake, but the taste is wonderful. It's mostly creamy goodness with a hint of parsnip flavour. I served mine with some coconut cream on top, which made it even better. But a chocolate frosting would be wonderful as well.
While on the train yesterday, I was reading my 'Discover America' magazine, which I took with me from the national 'holiday fair' last month. Travel magazines and me usually go together very well and they keep me entertained for a long time. I think I know where my next trip will take me! (after going to New York and Australia that is) I think I'll go back to the USA, and drive from Seattle to Chicago, or the other way around! I'll need about a month, and I'll definitely visit Yellowstone NP and Colorado! I've heard great stories about Colorado, especially foodwise, and the nature is supposed to be beautiful too. Then there's Chicago, with its 'Magnificent Mile', for awesome shopping purposes! Ahh, I can hardly wait.. Furthermore, I simply love driving, and from what I experienced from driving in the USA during my trip in 2009 it's an excellent location. I love the many different types of landscapes and nature in the USA. So I might just go there! It would be great if I'd have more than a month to stay, then I could drive all the way through to Florida..
