WHOA lansi

Home stretch! The final week is more or less over, & I think it’s been a pretty successful month for everyone. Some of the girls set some pretty lofty fundraiser & health goals, which I totally respect. Go big or go home, right?

As for me, I’m feeling pretty awesome. It’s been a pretty successful month & I’m really pleased with some of the side effects I’ve experienced from #SoberSeptember (& paleo). So pleased, in facet, that I’m thinking of continuing it a little longer. I’d like to commit to a mostly Sober October as well. I’m out of town the first two weekends, so I know they won’t be perfect, but I’d like to make a conscious effort to continue eating pretty strict paleo & staying away from alcohol. I’ll allow myself a couple cheats, but N will be away again so it seems like a good opportunity to keep working hard. We’ve decided that if it goes well, we’ll go for pizza & oysters at a new (to us) spot to celebrate a great fall. Seems like a fair trade off to me.

Amazing Bam Bam Shrimp from the Domestic Man blog

Roast Sirloin & Adair Caesar Salad, side of spiralled potatoes

Cheat Breakfast: Anju KFC

Roast chicken with veggies

Vietnamese lettuce wraps by Nom Nom Paleo are a new staple in our house

Homemade Almond Butter Chocolate Cups

Braised beef with carrots & arugula

Snacks with hubs: Duck Liver Mousse from Peasant Cheese (the best), homemade pickled carrots, & olives.

I sometimes forget just how great I feel when I eat paleo. I generally average under 8 hours of sleep per night. With morning workouts & evening commitments, I’ve been getting less sleep lately, but have way more energy. It’s my favourite side-effect. (I’m sure the extra workouts have been helping too.) I’d also normally break out at some point this month, but my skin showed no real signs of a breakout. Even my psoriasis seems to be laying low. It’s been a great reminder that I should make more of an effort to eat this way more consistently.

Bocce Handstands

Daily bike to work. It’s getting quiet in the cage at work.

Spin with some lovely ladies!

Ready for an early morning workout!

The best part of this whole month for me was joining November Project. I’m totally hooked & can see myself continuing to attend. I’m not sure if I’ll always be able to make it both Mondays & Wednesdays, but I’d love to go as often as possible. I actually don’t have to get up too much earlier than I normally would & I just pack my bag, prep my meals, & lay out my workout clothes the night before. This week I also got back in the pool, which was a humbling experience. I hope to make it out to a practice once in a while this year – it’s such a good challenge for me.

Early morning abs

Speech time!

Group Hug!

Crab walks

Amazing sunrise after the 600s workout

Banner for our sister city, LA.

On the fundraising side, I’m at 60% of my goal for the month. I’ve added my $65 donation to the mix for the cheat meals & drinks. I’m pretty happy that I managed to mostly stick to my goal, aside from in Kelowna. I even went out a few times with friends without having more than the wine I was allowed, so I don’t feel like I missed out on too much this month. Thank you to everyone who donated to my campaign. If you would still like to donate, today’s the day. This it it! (We made it, ladies!!) Check out my campaign page for more information or to add a donation to the cause. All proceeds go to cervical cancer research at the BC Cancer Foundation.

Thank you for your support! #FuckCancer

The second week of this challenge was, as expected, more difficult. Since we’d already booked a wine tour in Kelowna & would be attending a wedding, I opted to donate $50 to the BC Cancer Foundation in order to partake in this lovely weekend away. We ate well, drank an assortment of beautiful local wines, & danced our butts off. It was more than worth the expense.

I think this tells you everything about how much fun we had at Bobby & Karla’s wedding.

Getting back into the heathy living swing of things was tough, but I managed to do pretty well. I did take advantage of my daily wine allowance a couple times last week, but I also got lots of great workouts in, & managed to stay on track with my meals. Even with N in town, enjoying ice cream, pizza, & beer a couple times this week, I resisted the urge to partake. I think the “first” full week is actually the hardest part, & I’m going into this next one feeling like I’m over the hump.

My friend Zoe recommended we make the above lettuce wraps. They don’t look like much of anything, but trust me when I say, they are amazing. Make them. They’re so easy!

L & I have been really great about biking to & from work. High five, friend!

Last week was particularly busy for me, so we didn’t make a lot of super exciting recipes. I had dinner out twice too, actually: once at the Coup & once at Van Son. Both times, I managed not to cheat, which was pretty awesome. I’d never been to the Coup before, but I really enjoyed it. The entire menu is vegetarian, & I almost didn’t miss having meat in my meal. Plus, I finally got to have what felt like a real dessert after a few days of N eating ice cream in front of me.

My salad at the Coup

Coconut Lemon “Square”

Random lunch: roasted yams, tuna salad with pickled carrots, bacon & kale chips.

Spiralized cucumber salad & dilly basa

Once again I made it to November Project on Wednesday morning. Gymnastics also started back up that nigh,t & after class, I stuck around for Open Gym & did a very handstand-centric workout with our coach, Tanis. I realized halfway through that I was getting 4 hours-worth of exercise that day. Needless to say, I was pretty sore over the weekend. I had a few Beakerhead commitments that kept me active though, & we helped friends move on Saturday morning. I think I more than fulfilled my workout obligations!

Not a bad view of the city after an early morning workout

Killer hill repeats

Tricep dips at sunrise

NP Crew

I managed to prepare two really nice meals, despite our hectic weekend. First was Gyudon from the Domestic Man. It’s such an easy recipe, but the flavour is awesome & it looks quite impressive. The second was Sunday brunch. Our friends were hosting us for football, but I didn’t want to inconvenience them or go hungry, so we ate beforehand. I prepared my favourite pumpkin pancakes & cooked some maple beef sausages from our Grazed Right stash. We topped them with some preserved peaches from family.

Gyudon

Pumpkin Pancakes, Peaches, & Sausage

I kicked off this week with November Project this morning at Shaw Millennium Park. We did a workout using our phone numbers, which was pretty fun. It was a great way to start the week. I’m on track to have a great fitness week with NP Wednesday morning, gymnastics Wednesday night, spin Thursday night, & bocce on Saturday. I’m excited!

Run!

Tricep Train

More than halfway through this challenge & I’ve raised $100. Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated to my campaign. With my (possibly growing) contribution, I’m almost halfway to my donation goal! (I MAY have some brunch plans coming to add, which will put me even closer! EEK!) I’ve love following along with the other ladies in this challenge – they’re all doing great & raising money for a great cause!

If you’d like to donate, or find out more, check out my campaign page. Otherwise, follow along on snapchat or instagram (whoalansi for both) – I’d love to see you at November Project, on a run, or at spin, so hit me up for a workout sometime! #FuckCancer

We’re one week into the FFPK Healthy Living Challenge to raise money & awareness for Cervical Cancer through the BC Cancer Foundation, & it’s been a fantastic start. I’ve been eating such healthy & delicious meals, & getting lots of activity in.

I spent the long weekend in BC with my parents & we ate like kings! Their neighbour had brought over some delicious vegetables from her garden, & then we were given even more from my girlfriend’s parent’s garden too. We had fingerling potatoes, dill, mint, heirloom tomatoes, beets, kohlrabi, zucchini, black walnuts, spaghetti squash, & kale. Everything was incredible! I can’t wait for my parents to plant a garden of their own out there!

heirloom tomato

fingerling potatos

For workouts, I went for a couple extra long walks with Odin, in addition to his usual 15 minute ones. I think his favourite was going down to the lake & getting a swim in, but I really loved going out to the lookout point for the first time. It’s a gorgeous walk. I had done a huge stair workout with November Project at McMahon Stadium last Wednesday to kick things off, & I went again this morning. It was PR day so I set my first one: 10 times up & down the memorial stairs in 40 minutes. I also did some running with my dad & will be adding some more bodyweight workouts this week for a little variety. Gymnastics starts back up next Wednesday too & I can’t wait!

November Project at McMahon

Banff Hike

Lookout Point, Columbia Lake

Hikes with Odin

Laische’s first day of bike commuting!

November Project Views

I’ve been using some of my go-to recipes over this first week: chicken thighs with roasted beets, cumin spiced pork tenderloin with root vegetables, big ass salads, & egg bites (for breakfast). I’m really used to eating paleo at this point, so cutting out grains & bread isn’t something I have to wrap my mind around. I generally eat that way at home anyway, so it’s just sticking to it more closely this month. My friend, Zoe, sent me a few fantastic paleo recipes that I can’t wait to try this month so I’ll try to post how those turn out. If you follow along on instagram, I post most of my food with the hashtag, #deBoerDinners.

Paleo Pumpkin Biscuit, Eggs, Tomato, & Bacon

Egg & Red Pepper Scramble with Pumpkin biscuit.

Cumin Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Root Vegetables

Kale Chips

The hardest thing for me this week was abstaining from alcohol & dairy. My parents always put out an amazing appetizer spread at the lake. It usually includes cheese, & this time was no exception. Luckily, I came prepared with homemade pickled carrots & duck liver pâté. While I was still quite envious of their cheese selections, it helped to have some equally delicious options for myself. I also managed to hold myself to my allotment of wine over the weekend & substituted my usual patio drink with Kombucha or water. Planning ahead has always been the key to success for me.

I tested myself again a little yesterday when I picked up some fudge for N as a special surprise after his knee surgery (just a scope, nothing serious!). The smell of that fudge was almost enough to send me over the edge, but I didn’t indulge.

Pickling Carrots

This week will be a little bit different with us heading out to Kelowna for a wedding. I will be buying out on Friday for a wine tour & Saturday for the wedding. I’m glad to have this as an option so I can still participate in the rest of the month!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to my campaign so far! You guys are the best! I’ve raised $90 toward my $350 goal. Thank you!!!  If you’d like to donate, or find out more, check out my campaign page. Otherwise, follow along on snapchat or instagram (whoalansi for both) – I’d love to see you at November Project, on a run, or at spin, so hit me up for a workout sometime! #FuckCancer

Last year, my girlfriend completed a no makeup challenge to raise funds & awareness for the BC Cancer Foundation. It was the inaugural fundraising challenge for the female chapter of Family Photos Kelowna. The “family” shares the same fundraising & awareness goal across all chapters.

When this years’ challenge opened, I decided I wanted to take part. This September, FFPK is committing to 30 days of healthy living. As summer is my favourite time to indulge a little more, this challenge seemed like the perfect fit. The added bonus of raising money for a good cause made it a no brainer.

There are some general guidelines for the challenge, but everyone has been encouraged to make it their own. I love reading everyone’s personal goals & outlook on what a month of healthy living means to them. You can check out all the campaigns here; there’s an awesome assortment of things going down this month.

For me, I’ve noticed I feel my best when I’m not eating gluten, soy, or dairy. I know Paleo can be a little controversial sometimes, but I’ve never felt better than when I eliminated those few things from my diet. I also find it keeps my psoriasis in check, which is an amazing side effect. I’m excited to get back on track for a full month. Although we’ve never fully gone back to our old way of eating, I’ve enjoyed a lot of cheese & a fair bit of beer over the summer.

In addition to eating Paleo this month, I’ll be severely cutting alcohol. The challenge allows for half a glass of red wine a day. There’s a penalty if we cheat on this rule so I will be donating $20 for the two days I’m in Kelowna this month for a wine tasting & a wedding. Aside from that, my goal is to stick to no drinking.

Fitness-wise, I’m endeavoring to get my sweat on 3x a week for at least 30 minutes. I’ve been meaning to check out the November Project for a while & this is the perfect opportunity to get my butt in gear. I’m kicking it off tomorrow at McMahon Stadium, & I’d love to see some of my lovely friends out there if they’re up for it. (Meet at the SE Gate at 6:13 AM!) I’ll also be biking, running, spinning, swimming, & getting my gymnastics on this month!

You can find my personal campaign here, but a donation isn’t the only way you can support me this month. Cheerleaders are just as valuable in a challenge of this kind, so I hope at least some of you are willing to join me in a workout from time to time (or simply remind me to get my ass out of bed & to November Project). Let’s get after it, friends!