O-M-Ghee: Whole 30 and Andrew's 1st CrossFit WOD!!!

Sorry folks, no funny 'Life in the Middle East' stories for you today. Just another day spent at the pool swimming, tanning, and spending time with friends. I know, I know...it's a rough life we are leading here in Bahrain. 

The biggest, newest, most exciting news is that our family has committed to the

 WHOLE 30!!!!

We are following the Whole 30 designed by www.whole9life.com and it's awesome!

Pretty much it's 30 days of strict clean eating. No alcohol (you read that right, NO alcohol), no added sugars, no grains, no legumes, no dairy. 

For 30 days....30 DAYS....

This is not for the weak, that's for sure. It's going to be hard, but the benefits are supposed to be oh so good.  It's important to know that the purpose of the Whole 30 is NOT weight loss. The purpose is to reset your body and your relationship with food. An added bonus is that over 90% people also lose a decent amount of weight in the 30 days. 

Andrew and I are always trying to eat as healthy as we can, but all too often things sneak in like noodles, or garlic bread, or take out Chinese, or oreos of course; and before we know it we aren't eating as healthy as we would like to be. It's tie for us to get serious about reaching our optimal health.

We've discussed doing the Whole 30 for a long time. I've always wanted to do it, and Andrew has thought it was a good idea, but he had to think LONG and HARD about giving up his precious milk. Well ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come - and Andrew is putting down the MILK! YES! I hate milk, and I especially hate when he tries to kiss me after drinking a big glass of milk. Disgust city. Ugh.

With Andrew's busy work schedule he has said that he is happy to do the Whole 30 with me, but I have to have all of the meals prepared and ready for him. I guess I can do that, even though my days are SO busy. Getting a tan is hard work!

So, if you wonder where I am for the next 30 days; chances are I'm either cooking, meal planning, grocery shopping, or doing dishes. How domestic huh?

I'm totally fine with it. I'm just so excited for our family and can't wait to see our results. Hey, I have to focus on the positive that will come out of this because let's face it...I'm not going to be a very nice person for the next few weeks. 

I'm going to reach a whole new level of HANGRY! 

My amazing midwife and dear friend, Brooke, is also doing the Whole 30 with us...from Maryland. So it's been a lot of fun to iMessage with her the past few days and be there for each other and encourage one another. 

Even Caden is on board. He has had this huge bag of Halloween/Christmas/Easter/Birthday candy that we've had around for months. Every now and then we let him pick a treat out of it, and it's presence in our house is a PROBLEM right now. So after a talk with him about making healthy choices he agreed that it wast time to ditch the candy. So it's gone! I was so proud of him. I'll be honest, it didn't take any convincing, all he said was, "Well, can I still play my Kindle?" When I said yes, he just said, "okay, sounds good" and walked away. Priorities.

The first step was to empty out our cupboards....I loved seeing the bad leave our house as I brought in all of the good!

Out with the old...

 In with the new....

Yesterday I spent ALL day going to a million different grocery stores to get our ingredients for the first few meals. We should get extra points for doing this from Bahrain. There are so many things that we don't have that would make this so much better and tastier. ie: sugar-free, nitrate-free bacon.

In the past day I have cooked 6 meals and made my own Ghee!

What's Ghee you ask? Well, it's kind of like butter, but better. According to the Whole 9

 website, Ghee is: 

 Golden colored ghee is prepared by melting and simmering unsalted butter until all the water evaporates and the milk solids settle at the bottom. The milk solids (those problematic milk proteins that make plain old butter a less healthy choice) are then filtered out, leaving only the remaining pure butter fat.  This form of fat (approximately 2/3 saturated) is very stable with a high smoke point, making it an excellent choice to use for frying and sautéing.  In addition, it can be stored without refrigeration for several months.   (Note, ghee and clarified butter are not the same.  Ghee is cooked longer, then browned, giving the butterfat a rich, nutty flavor.)

Ghee is the ONLY allowed dairy on the Whole 30.  

The instructions I used for our Ghee was from Nom Nom Paleo, one of my favorite food blogs. If you are so inclined you can make Ghee too!  Go HERE.  

I have to say, the ONE positive thing about the grocery stores here is the availability of Kerrygold Butter!

Back home I easily spent $7 for one package of Kerrygold's delicious butter made from the milk of grass-fed cows in Ireland. Here, I get a 2-pack for $3. It's amazing! It almost makes up for the $30 I spend on broccoli.

So last night I embarked on my first Ghee experiment using a ton of Kerrygold butter. 

Melting....

Simmering...

And...the finished product! I think I let it simmer a little bit too long as it's darker than I expected. BUT it's delicious! I have already used it a few times and it gives a rich nutty butter flavor. So delicious! 

I plan on posting our daily menu for each day. Just in case one of our friends or family members decides to join us - I'll do all the work and just tell you what to eat!

DAY 1

Breakfast:  Sweet Potato Hash and Fried Eggs

(Andrew LOVED the hash, he even woke me up on his way out the door to tell me how amazing it was)

Recipe from Nom Nom Paleo Here

Lunch:  We had a little bit of sweet potato hash left over so I roasted some broccoli and grilled some chicken breast and served it all together. 

Another WIN - Andrew called me to tell me that he could easily eat that any day.
Caden and I ate ours while sitting in the car on our way to the pool. 

Snack:  Green Apple with a tiny bit of Almond Butter

Dinner:  Tacos served in lettuce cups

I didn't use a recipe here either, I made my own Taco seasoning for the beef that included, garlic, onions, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper and squeezed some fresh lime over it too. We made our tacos with tomatoes, onions, and avocado on top. DELICIOUS. 

Though I was definitely missing the tortilla chips, shells, and cheese. 

So Day 1 is DONE!! We have survived. Surprisingly I felt pretty great all day. My biggest

challenge is right now. I would love to reach for a little snack...but I WILL NOT DO IT! I am determined for us to be successful in this adventure this month. 

I'm also SUPER SUPER happy that after a year and a half, I have finally convinced my husband to CrossFit with me! After he got home from work today I put him through his first class!

He learned all about the squat, front squat, back squat, push, and push press. He was a natural! I'm so extremely proud. He even got his first double-under today! I was shocked.

Though he was glaring at me A LOT, it was really fun. After the skills instruction I had him do FRAN!!!

FRAN

21-15-9

Thrusters and Pull Ups

I am SO excited to coach him. I truly loved our family time outside working out together. If only it wasn't SO HOT!

I always sweat during CrossFit - but CrossFit in 100 degree humid weather. We were drenched by the end. 

And that's the newest and greatest in our world. I don't plan on turning this blog into a CrossFit/Paleo/Whole 30 blog - so don't worry. I'm sure I'll be back to shit show stories and butt bath pictures in no time. 

Until then - wish us luck! And let me know if you want to join us!!!

and That's 'Watts' She Said....