Day 23 on the Whole30 - DONE & Back from Austin...

So as soon as I checked into my hotel I ordered a refrigerator. It's actually a standard accommodation in most hotels nowadays. I stocked it with all my food and made sure the cooler wasn't too high so my food wouldn't freeze overnight like the last time.

I woke up at 7am and felt pretty good so I had a little frittata and few supplements and headed to CrossFit Central  to take the 7:45am class. 

1 Pull Clean & 1 Thruster, EMOM x 10, followed by a mini metcon. Afterwards, feeling good, I headed to Whole Foods to get coconut milk and an americano. I couldn't wait to get back to my room to make my coconut milk latte. Although a little tricky to figure out I finally opened the can opener with my traveling can opener.

I poured the coconut milk into the americano, turned on the frother and dipped it slowly in...NOTE: Turn the frother on after you've immersed the end into the coffee or it will spray everywhere!!! OOPSIES:-(

The frother worked OK, but my morning Pick-Me-Up was just not the same as the one I can make at home with my Nutri-Bullet:-( Either way, it was better than nothing.

After some computer work, I met my brokers at Whole Foods for a meeting and to my surprise their salad bar was labeled the way it should be labeled...the way they make us (as suppliers/vendors) label things. I voiced my concerns to them over a year ago and although nothing has changed yet in our region (Rocky Mountain) I've seen changes in the Southwest region (where global is located) which means there should be changes in other regions soon which makes me so very excited.

What changes am I talking? 

Well, many of the Whole Foods salad bars don't include the finer print. For example, the hard-boiled eggs...are they organic, free range, pastured raised, conventional? You might assume they are organic because it's Whole Foods, but I think they are probably conventional because it's not labeled. It's a marketing thing, right. Well, the question has finally been answered since they've decided to label it.

Cage-Free Organic eggs...Well, they aren't pastured raised, but who's really keeping track...Now, if they could only start using coconut oil instead of canola oil in some of their prepared foods, that would be amazing...I might not cook as much...???

After my meeting I went to my table top where I met all the SW GTL (Southwest Grocery Team Leads). These are the guys that make execution at their store happen which means better sales and team loyalty for our brand. In order to get their buy-in and create a buzz for them to bring back their store I had to give out tons of FREE SWAG (shirts, cooler gloves, stickers, buttons, free tea). 

After the show I headed to a few stores to check product then I went to the airport. And guess what? Yep, TSA wanted to confiscate my pesto sauce and chicken salad again. Well, my little white lie worked again. So if you are ever get in that situation (Christine) just tell them you have severe food allergies and you won't eat for days if they take your food away from you. 

Blogged on the plane ride back as I ate my 'almost confiscated two-time homemade chicken salad'...

Today's Stats

Water Consumption

125 ounces

Sleep 

7 1/2 hours

Daily Meals

7am : Breakfast - Frittata

9am : Coconut Milk Latte

12pm : Salmon Sashimi & Salad with Avocado, Pico de Gallo, Shredded Carrots & Squash

4pm : Snack - Homemade Jerky & Nuts

6pm : Snack - 2 Hard Boiled Eggs

8am : Dinner - Homemade Chicken Salad 

Day 22 on the Whole30 - Austin Bound...

So I'm heading out of town again on a business trip. This time to Austin for a Whole Foods meeting and regional table top show...

I planned and prepped all day Sunday to ensure I had another successful trip on the Whole03. I even went to Sur la Table and bought a can opener and frother for my Coconut Latte.

I brought my homemade beef jerky, raw/unsalted mixed nuts, figs, homemade chicken/egg/olive salad in a cilantro/coconut milk/jalapeno/lime pesto sauce (cabbage wraps), side of pesto sauce, lamb/veggie frittata and supplements...

I had over two hours to get to the airport, plenty of time, I thought... until I hit Route 36. It was a parking lot going eastbound. After traveling 1 mile in 20 minutes a cop car parted the double lanes and I realized I was going to miss my flight. A burst of anxiety rushed over me and for some reason I screamed at the top of my lungs while hitting the driving wheel. My dad used to do this all time when he was stuck in traffic (which was everyday to and from work  as he crossed the GW bridge between NJ & NYC - a 12 mile trip took him 2 hours on a good day). 

Anyhow, I've never reacted this way to traffic before, but for some reason that scream calmed my nerves and I began thinking straight again. I followed a few cars who jumped on a construction ramp to exit and made my way over to Table Mesa, bypassing the traffic. YEAH! I was out of that mess, but I still needed to get to the airport on time.

As I hit the toll road I also hit the pedal. I finally slowed down to 50 mph as I exited Pena Boulevard. NOTE: that spot is the biggest speed trap in Colorado...And sure enough, a cop was gunning cars down at the exact same place I got a speeding ticket about a year ago... 

By the time I got to the airport I was exhausted from all the adrenal racing through my body, but there was no time to spare, I had to rush to make my flight...

No lines at security, awesome! I walked through seamlessly until a TSA guy said he needed to check my bag. I pulled the liquid tea samples from my bags at my car since I knew I had no time to check my bag. 'What else could be in there?'... 

Well, it turns out that they considered my chicken salad and pesto sauce a liquid and they wanted to confiscate it. I wish I had my reaction on video...what a sight!!! There was NO WAY I was going to let them do that, so I quickly made-up a little white lie. I had to, you have no idea how much time and love I put into making that chicken salad and pesto sauce. 

"I have really bad food allergies. I'm lactose and gluten intolerant, among other things, so I have to travel with my food. If you take it I won't have anything to eat for a couple of days." 

Well, after a few minutes of him getting approval from his manager, he gave it back to me and I headed to my gate.

Note to self: don't make such a soupy sauce next time or maybe freeze it and also use it as a ice pack to chill my food.

After my Whole Foods meeting, I checked into my hotel exhausted, but I mustered up just energy and to go to CrossFit Central. I mean what else was I going to do, hit the hotel bar and order a burger and fries...

The WOD and the community was just what I needed to get me through that Happy Hour urge I was feeling. CrossFit Central is my go-to box when I'm in Austin. I would recommend it to anybody. 

For some reason, I was thinking about during the workout was where I was going to get a big, fat, juicy Texas steak. I hadn't really eaten all day. I think that adrenal rush left my stomach unsettled.

Anyhow, after CrossFit, I walked aimlessly downtown while yelping steakhouses. After about 20 minutes, I stumbled into Fleming's Steakhouse. I usually try and stay away from the chains, but it was close and I was hungry. 

I informed the waiter that I was allergic to gluten and dairy. He said no worries, he'll tell the cooks to use oil instead of butter. 'Great, I'll have the Bone-In NY Ribeye and grilled asparagus.' Ordering was easy and although I sat at the bar, I didn't even crave a glass of wine. All I was craving was a piece of meat.

After dinner I made my way back to the hotel, took a hot bath and blogged. I turned my lights out around 11pm with the 'intention' of going to CrossFit Central for the 7:45am class...

Today's Stats

Water Consumption

135 ounces

Sleep

  7 hours

Daily Meals

5:30am - Morning Beverage : Coconut Milk Latte with MCT oil

7am - Morning Beverage : Homemade Bone Broth

7:30am - Breakfast : Fritatta

4pm - Snack : Nuts & Beef Jerky

7pm - Dinner : Bone-In NY Ribeye & Grilled Asparagus