Day 56 Whole30 - we are almost there!

10:14 PM Today was better than yesterday - but I think I need a couple of days of solitude. I just need some down quiet time. It's rare. So rare.  I love my family to pieces but some days are quite trying.  

I woke up very early with a major headache and a little bit later I was very sick to my stomach. This lasted a better part of the morning.  My hubby brought me a veggie omelet and fruit from Jummys Egg (he and my dad met for breakfast). After I ate this about half of this (bye I added avocado) and had a cup of coffee I took some ibuprofen and was able to function at about 70%. 

Lunch was turkey lunch meat, 3 slices with avocado, tomato, onion and cilantro.

For dinner the family ( hubs, 2 daughters and our parents) requested Tator tot casserole. So I made that for them. I fried up some burgers with onions and mushrooms, made mayo, and had grilled squash. More than satisfied!

I did manage to buy a swimsuit today. Huge victory here - I did not cry at all while trying it on or once I got home. It's cute. I feel pretty ok in it. It's the smallest swimsuit I have bought in I don't know when. It feels good!

I was also encouraged today as I have been thinking about and posting about my reintroduction concerns and a friend sent me a message about how her experience is going. I have said it before but I so appreciate having friends do this too! 

Okay - I still have to finish cleaning the kitchen so I better get to it!

See you next month - lol!!

Day 55 Whole 30 - I think I can I think I can

10:36 PM My day has just been really kinda hard in more ways than one.  I guess the best place to start is at the beginning.  I totally planned on getting up, going to breakfast with my dad, and then all of us going to yard sales...after we were through with the morning activities, which would surely be by noon I would start on house cleaning and get the menu made and grocery shopping done.  Well we went to Jimmy's egg for breakfast and I ate my normal veggie omelet with avocado and fruit.  Don't forget the coffee!  All is well.  Let the yard sales begin!  What? Now it is already lunch time.  Split steak, chicken and shrimp fajitas with my dad.  I only had the meat, veggies, pico and guacamole.  That goes much longer than planned and then a trip to Lowes.  Hello 2:00 and exhaustion!  Yes, let's nap.  I get to sleep and am awakened by a very annoying cat and that does it - I am awake.  Fine I will make my grocery list.  I don't even find my pad of paper and in bounds my 20 year old daughter.  She has been away for work and I am truly happy to see her!  We begin to visit and in pops my dad! I can't even remember why he came over! Good Lord!  Now we make dinner plans - I have not completed one single thing I have planned to.  To make it worse my family orders pizza.  That is the one thing lately I have said I can't wait to eat some of when I am off Whole 30.  Today almost ended my 60 days.  Instead of succumbing to the pressure I stopped at our local Reasor's and fixed a salad from their salad bar.  Veggies, Fruit, grilled chicken.  I brought my own olive oil.  That's what I ate while everyone else had pizza.  The pizza didn't look that good, which helped.  When we get home my husband is eager to work on and complete a little back porch/flower project.  For the next 3 - 4 hours I work with him.  My frustration has reached it's max.  '

I had a pity party.  It went a little something like this.  "When does anybody expect me to take care of my house and to go grocery shopping.  My summer classes start Monday and I need this house to be cleaned (I forgot to mention I found out today that my new housekeeper broke her ankle and will not be able to start for at least 6 week....did I mention I was looking forward to her helping getting our house ready to put on the market)  I need to be ready for meals next week as I complete my 60 days.  Why doesn't anybody think - Hey I wonder what I can do to help D. J. out today.  Did I even hear a thank you today or a that was fun..No I don't think I did.  Why can't I just live life without sleeping.  I would be able to get more done.  Doesn't anybody think I have a life? Why can't I do more.  Why am I acting this way? Am I hormonal?  It is getting to that time."

I hate pity parties.  They are like weakness.  I don't like weakness.  Grrr.

Other things have happened today that have made this day very trying.  Right now I am having to wait on my bedding to dry before I can make my bed and actually go to bed because of one of the "other things".  I am tired. I want to go to bed.

The one good thing - I did read more on the re introduction.  I think I am not going to do the fast track but rather the extended track.  Staying on Whole30 most of the time.  I am loving the results.  I am not going back to my old way of eating.  The biggest battle will be with the convenience.  Just like today - it would have been easy to basically give in and eat pizza.  So the battle isn't over but I have made great strides to winning!

That's all for today!

Tomorrow must be better!

Day 54 Whole 30 - 6 days to go

9:18 PM Good non-stop day. Seriously, I have finally been able sit down and relax. This morning was 2 scrambled eggs with salsa verse mixed in, and coconut coffee. Lunch was a salad with grilled chicken, tons of veggies, and vinegar and oil dressing. Tonight my big kids wanted Chinese. I am pretty sure I stayed compliant but I am not too eager to eat at that particular restaurant again. My hubby was eating chicken Alfredo when I got home and I basically asked for a bite - he so lovingly asked me what day I was on. I appreciate how well he has been supportive with my whole 30.

As I am sitting here typing my post I am holding my precious grandson. It doesn't get much sweeter than this! 

It's a short post but bit was a super fast day so I don't have a lot to say. 

Good nighty night!!

Day 53 - Whole 30.... 1 more week to go!

10:19 AM Good morning.  Looks like rain again today.  I wonder if we are really going to have a summer this year.  Not really, I believe it is going to bound in here with a vengeance!

So today is Day 53. It's Thursday.  This week has been unusual for me.  I have been going to bed later than I would like as our days have been rather full of activity.  I have been getting up later because we had a 4 day weekend, then this week Brandy's baby sitters have been coming to our house so I don't have to leave as early.  It's a nice change, but not one I want to keep up. Summers always prove to be very ever changing.  Literally from one week to the next due to activities little Miss is involved in.  It's all good.  So, I was out of bed by 6:30 today.  I finished loading the DW, picked up the kitchen, and switched out laundry.  I love getting stuff done before I have to leave.  I needed a little more time to apply my make up but I am not too stressed about that.  I fried two eggs in oil this morning and topped them with salsa verde sauce!  That was a rather smart way to get in a veggie I thought!

I mentioned this last night.  I still can't believe how far I have come.  I don't know if I have ever blogged this - if I have, please forgive my redundancy.  I have two "weights" in my head that are milestones for me.  My first is the lowest weight I was able to reach on Weight Watchers.  I am pretty sure I am below that now.  WOW!  My second is my lowest weight I was able to reach with the help of a diet doctor and a whole lot of diet pills from the diet doctor.  I have never thought past these two weights.  Mainly because I knew they would be really hard to get to on my own and I  honestly think I was beginning to truly believe I was never going to be able to lose this weight, that I was destined to be fat. I feel confident I am going to reach my second goal weight now.  Very confident.  Even at that weight though...I still have more to lose to be a "healthy" weight. That number is a a little overwhelming so I don't want to dwell on it too much.  The smaller goals are much more powerful for me.

That's all for this morning!  Later Gators!

9:00 PM. Another busy day! I am pretty tired. I think it's time to focus on listening to my body again and get caught back up on sleep! 

I can home for lunch and had leftover chicken and cabbage with vinegar and oil.  For dinner my oldest and youngest daughters and my grandson went out to eat Mexican. I did not order my usual!!! I ordered arroz con camaron...I think that's what it was called. It was grilled shrimp, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I also ordered a guacamole salad. It was yummy! A nice change.  

I am heading to bed. I am going to tea a bit and call it a day!

Hope you all have a great nights sleep!

Day 52 Whole30 - I am so proud of myself!

9:58 PM today I am just proud of myself! Looking back at all the times I could have given in and said - I am done -especially since going over 30 days. I am navigating with ease and confidence even in stressful and unexpected circumstances. We made an offer in a house tonight and that is a reason to celebrate with ice cream and top it off with chips...right?? Nope. And tonight I didn't need a cup of hot tea either. That's been my go to to calm myself.  

This morning I had one egg fried in a lot of oil! Along with coconut oil coffee. No I did not have fruit or veggies. This afternoon I had another scrumptious strawberry grilled chicken breast salad from braums. I did not have dressing. I had to get back to work for a webinar. Today I decided I need to get a small bottle of olive oil to put in my office.  Finally for dinner - oh it was good! I put a whole chicken in the crock pot and cooked it all day. It was the best! I added broccoli with ghee and called it good!!

So as of tonight I now only have 8 days left! I love the changes I have made. My family overall is eating better. I am so much LESS stressed and LESS short tempered.  These are the things you don't realize have become horrific until you don't have them anymore. 

I hope to be able to write more soon. Time has been odd lately. I am actually getting to sleep earlier tonight than I have been. This is good! Have a good night of sleep friends!!

Day 50 and Day 51 - glad to be back at work!

9:17 AM  Yes, I am so happy to be back at work and back into a routine.  I always say I love days off, but I also love getting back to the norm of life!

Yesterday was not productive at all like I had hoped it would be.  But yet, it was a really good day.  We went to eat breakfast with my dad at 7:30.  I had a veggie omelet (no cheese) and a double side of fruit - which was honey dew and cantaloupe.  I used a heavy amount of Tabasco on my omelet.  I also had black coffee.  Just a quick pat on the back for myself - I am easily staying to my 4 cups of coffee or less.  After we ate breakfast we went to drive by a couple of houses for sale that we were considering making an appointment to go see.  We were out in the country and back into town.  We found one we really liked in town, the owner was outside so my husband stopped to just tell her we weren't anything to be worried about - just looking at her house.  While he was talking with her I looked up and at them and realized I knew the woman he was talking to.  Long story short, she asked us to go ahead and look at the house.  She and I visited and caught up and we were there almost 2 hours!  It was wonderful and we really like the property.

After this it was approaching lunch time and we wanted to bring the old people for a drive by look at the house.  So we ate lunch with them and took them by the house.  Lunch was Sonic!  I was trying to keep it simple so we got 4 cheeseburgers - all the same.  I new I would take the bun off of mine and be ok....wait, no, there was cheese on the cheeseburgers!  I ate cheese.  I decided not to sweat it!  I have been doing this for 50 days and I am not going to let one slice of cheese end my efforts.  I know, I know, the book says start all over.  I am not going to.  I am transitioning really quick from being afraid of starting reintroduction to being excited to tackle it and move into the new normal for me.  

So then we head home.  I start on my list!! Totally excited I am getting to work on my list.  The first rooms to tackle were the bathrooms.  As I started I didn't really intend to be in the total clean out frame of mind...but with the thought of a potential move on the horizon I was trashing and making piles for yard sale!  So this was taking longer than I expected.  We had invited the folks over for a wonderful dinner of sloppy joes and chips so I had to get that started before I finished even one of the bathrooms!  I made two batches of sloppy joes - one for the family and one for me.  The one I made for me had browned hamburger, onion, pickles, about a half a small can of tomato paste, several shakes of coconut aminos, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I am here to tell you - this tasted like legit sloppy joes!  I put my meat mixture on top of some thick slices onions, added a side of tomatoes and avocado and BAM! I had dinner!  After dinner I planned to resume my cleaning and just as I was about to do exactly that lightning hit VERY close by and then we had no power....No power for five long hours!  So when it first happened we had a few things we needed at Lowes so we ran there - everywhere was without power, and we are pretty sure Lowe's was operating on a generator.  We drove by the house we liked so much and while doing so the power in that neighborhood came on so we headed home - thinking we would have power.  We did not.  So, we did our best to get little one ready for bed and we hung some flower hangers out on the back porch.  We tried to kill our powerless time.  Finally my husband pulled out a couple of Coleman lanterns and lit them so I could at least get the kitchen clean.  It was about 10:30 when we went to bed.  It was so quiet and dark with no power.  Finally, just after 11:00 our power was restored!  So, we went to sleep!

I do want to say during the outage I wanted to dive into some chips so bad it was not even funny.  I can easily say that was the absolute worst bout of craving I have had this entire time.  I don't know if it was triggered by the cheese I had earlier in the day or if it was all the emotions that came with finding a home we will be placing an offer on.  I texted my 2 Whole30 friends and told my husband I was having the cravings.  I got encouragement all the way around and made it through!  I was bordering on feeling like the food was in control - I seriously never want to feel that way again.  I love having the power over my food choices.

TODAY!  I was out of bed by 6:30.  I didn't have to get Miss Brandy ready and deliver her anywhere before work as we have a gal coming to our house today to take care of her.  I was able to fry  2 eggs in coconut oil,  and had a side of sliced tomatoes for breakfast.  After breakfast I fixed my coconut oil coffee.  This morning I was able to switch out laundry, fold and put it away, and start the dishwasher which was done just a few minutes before I had to leave so I emptied it real quick.  I am thrilled I got all that done before coming to work!

I will bebop either home for lunch or maybe to subway.  Not sure.

10:40 PM so I went to braums for lunch and got their amazing salad with strawberries, pineapple, blueberries and other goodness along with grilled chicken on top. It was so so good!  

Dinner was after 8:00 as we did one more walk through on the house...looks like we make an offer tomorrow. I bought we would have chicken fajitas but didn't honk to look and make sure the frozen chicken was compliant. So hubs and Brandy got chicken fajitas. I had 2 hamburger patties, sautéed onions and an avocado.

I am tired of eating. I told my husband when I finished this whole30 - 60 days that I wanted pizza. The closer I get the more I think - why? Again, curious to see what happens through reintroduction and after! 

I am tired my lovelies! Good night, sleep tight!

Day 49 - Whole30 - So close to 60

10:46 PM Thankfully we have no storms this evening.  It's been an odd day.  I love to have a plan, like an hourly plan for the day.  My husband is naturally spontaneous so me having a plan doesn't usually go well with his spontaneity.  So when we are home together my planning has to be minimal otherwise I get very frustrated and grumpy because my plan is being destroyed.  Today was day 3 with hubby.  Tomorrow is day 4 - I can't do day 4 without a plan.  My lack of plan and productivity was kicking in today. 


Whole30 wise today was a success.  I did not eat breakfast this morning.  I did not have any protein prepared ahead of time so I left with my coffee and coconut oil.  This isn't my goal.  I did not sleep well last night and pushed my sleeping a little later than I should have.  I don't like doing this, however today it didn't turn out disastrous.  I didn't stress about it, I didn't worry that I would die before lunch, and I really wasn't starving by lunch time.  Again, I don't plan to allow this to become a habit.  For lunch I ran to the store to get the fixings for chili.  I made a regular pot for my hubby, daughter and parents.  I created my own using hamburger, organic diced tomatoes, organic tomato sauce, shredded summer squash and onion.  I added garlic powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  Somehow I was out of chili powder.  Anyway - it turned out very yummy.  More like a spicy tomato soup with meat.  I had olives as my fat.  Since today was quite chilly and rainy this really hit the spot.  For dinner I sautéed some cabbage and had more of my chili.  This afternoon I have been very thirsty - I have no idea how much water I have drank but it has been more than normal. 

For the most part we have meals planned for tomorrow.  Tomorrow - you know MY PLAN will kick in.  I am going to boil some eggs, cut up veggies, and make the menu for the rest of the week. I have done minimal grocery shopping the last couple of weeks because I have a lot of food in my freezers and pantry.  I am trying to kinda work through all of it. 

As I said yesterday I am really thinking about reintroduction and plan to follow it to a T.  It seems that the past 60 days would be a bit of a waste if I didn't follow the reintroduction plan. 

I am going to finish cleaning up my kitchen and head to bed.  I have a breakfast date with my awesome dad!

Until tomorrow friends!

Day 48 - whole30 tornado warnings anyone?

11:28 PM sorry for my late post - we have been watching the weather closely for about an hour and even took cover for a bit. Whew! 

Okay so a quick review of my whole30 day.  Breakfast with dad as planned. Veggie omelet with Avocado, double side order of fruit. I put a generous amount of hot sauce in the eggs.  Lunch was a grilled burger and grilled potato wedges with mustard and a few small slices of watermelon.  Tonight was my nephews birthday party. I took macadamian nuts to eat while everyone else had cookie cake and ice cream.  We stayed later than I thought we would so at 9:30 I made some chicken breast, a little green salad with avocado and a slice of watermelon.  

It was a good day! 

Only 12 days until I start reintroduction!!

Good night friends!

Day 47 Whole30 - I could have quit today!

10:19 AM When you are strongly encouraged to be prepared and have a plan it is no joke!! Today my hubby and I were off work. We had a couple of things we wanted to do today and were super active/busy! We actually did not get to our planned items due to the business. 

This morning I scrambled up two eggs with onion and bell pepper. I added a whole small avocado and had a couple cups of coffee. So far so good.

The afternoon got away from us and we did not have lunch until after 3:00. We went to an Italian place and I had their chef salad with chicken and vinegar and olive oil. The salad came with cheese :-( I picked off as much as I could.  The salad was flavorless! I think I added salt 3 times - it still tasted like crunchy water!  

By 7:00 I am pretty sure I was hungry. I warmed up leftover chicken and asparagus.  I added ghee to the asparagus. Amazingly, it was not overly Flavorful either. What's wrong???

It is rather chilly here today and I wanted something hot. I made 2 cups of hot tea. The warmth was helpful.

So food wise today was kinda disappointing.  Not having a plan made it very tempting to give in. We have 2 opened bags of chips in the cabinet right now. A nice bowl of chips and a glass of milk would have been super easy and flavorful!! I resisted though.

I have a plan for tomorrow!! I am going to have breakfast with my dad. Already know what I am going to order!! And I plan to add some hot sauce to it!!

I plan to make tacos for lunch and compliant meatloaf for dinner! I think that should shake some flavor up!!

My daily step goal on my fitbit is 12500. I am less than 2000 from hitting it and I did not do any runs or dedicated exercise today!! That proves I was pretty active. I can tell too!! My body is tired and my brain!

I am so proud of myself for how far I have come! The new Whole30 book is full of new information! I am enjoying the read!!

Time for sleep beautiful people!!

Day 46 Whole30 - I feel the need to plan!

9:02 AM Good morning friends!  I feel the need to be thoughtful, deliberate, and productive today.  That boils down to getting all that needs to be done in my office done, and contemplate where I am at right now in my work world and in my personal world, and make plans (lots of notes and list making) accordingly.  Today is a good day to do this as I am off for the next four days.  I can get my work plan together for next week and get my 4 day weekends plans together along with a solid start on my personal plan for next week.

This morning was a pretty good morning.  We have had so many chilly mornings this season - whatever season this is.  I just love it!  The only problem I face is trying to get up earlier each week.  The chilliness makes me want to stay in my bed.  I just love the chill in the air while I am warm and cozy in bed.  I was out of bed by 6:30.  I ate my steak, avocado, and a slice of onion with black coffee at the table today.  I made a coconut coffee on my way out the door.  I am almost through 24 ounces of coffee and with mixed emotions I am going to stop at 24 ounces.  I would like to be able to get down to 2 cups a day.  4 cups is doable.  On some days 3 cups is doable.  Getting to 2 cups is seeming rather impossible right now.

I am down to 2 weeks left of doing Whole30 for sixty days.  I am still very concerned about reintroduction.  I think I could easily continue for another 30 days. If  this is working so well, why do anything different?  I wonder if there are negative affects of doing this long term.  I am hoping as I work through all the FAQs in the new Whole30 book that I will get some answers.

Okay - that's all for this morning.  I am off to be thoughtful, deliberate and productive today!

8:34 PM  well it was a good day! Lunch was a leftover rib, and leftover cole slaw. Super productive day!! 

Grilled chicken and steak with grilled asparagus and a leftover sweet potato! 

Today I felt the desire to snack. I didn't like it. Wondering if my increase in fruit is triggering the desire.  So I will pull back a bit on it. 

I am so ready for my 4 day weekend!! I hope we all have a great one!

Day 45 - Whole30 - Hoping for a better day!

9:19 AM  Good Morning!  I can't believe it is only Wednesday.  It has been a rather long week already.  This morning started off the best out of the other two days. I was waking up well before my alarm but I did not look at my clock, I just tried to go back to sleep.  I was out of bed by 6:20.  Thankfully we had hot water :-) Thankfully Brandy's sore throat didn't lead to needing to stay home.  :-) I was able to eat breakfast at the table today.  Pork, a half an avocado, and a sliced tomato.  I had black coffee after breakfast.  I made my lunch, made my bed, and got Brandy and I ready for the day.  This is Brandy's first day of summer, so our routine was a bit off but I ended up at work early so we are good!

I am aware this week that my new habits are indeed becoming more embedded.  But yet, I still need to focus on them so that I don't slip slowly back.  I have not been listening to my body when it is ready for bed.  Getting to bed when the body calls has a profound affect.  I can't deny that, so I need to really commit to being aware and responsive to the signals.  As far as my optimal morning routine - I am not there yet.  I have other lifestyle improvements that I am eager to make but I need to get these solidly in place first.

Here is to having a great day!  I hope you do too!

9:05 PM. I am typing this from my bed! I am going to sleep early tonight!! This afternoon my dad called to go to lunch. We went to a place I don't love but I was surprised by the salad I ordered with a whole chicken breast. I didn't have dressing...I think I need to figure out how to have dressing with me most of the time.  

Dinner was in a rush! I hadn't thawed anything so I ran to the store and grabbed steaks and zucchini. Came home and grilled  the steaks and zucchini, baked a sweet potato in te microwave and then woofed it down way to fast. I taught kids tonight at church ad we had fresh strawberries, grapes, and cuties for snack. 

Pretty sure I recognized hunger this evening before dinner. That's kinda exciting. 

They day was an improvement over the past two days! 

Tomorrow will be awesome! Until ten friends.

Day 44 - Whole30 - Feeling real good!

11:29 AM I am frustrated and stressed - but it is okay.  I can realistically look at everything and say, "it is what it is" and I can work with that.  This morning I was out of bed at about 6:30.  I had weird dreams last night that caused me to toss and turn and this morning I can't remember a single detail other than they were weird.  So, I am a little tired.  I got up and started doing my morning things.  I switched out laundry, got Brandy started and got ready to take a shower....No hot water!  Hubby has to light the pilot light on our hot water tank.  So I make lunches and fold/put away the clean laundry, lay out my entire out fit and such while waiting on the water to heat so I can take my shower.  Shower was very rushed.  Make up and hair - minimal and rushed.  I was a bit snippy with Brandy as she was totally unaware of the shift in status quo.  Ate breakfast in the car - pork, coconut coffee. Good news - I think I felt "hunger"!!

We are preparing for some radical changes in our office that I am not necessarily in agreement with so my stress/frustration level has increased substantially. We had an hour and half meeting this morning.  It seems with each meeting the future of what we do is getting worse and worse.  I am saddened because I just absolutely love my job.  It has been an exceptional experience.  I hate to see our dynamics change so drastically and overall not necessarily in a way that will benefit the institution.

So even with all this can I say I feel really good.  Tired, but yet energetic!  Frustrated, but still hopeful.  Some things are out of my control, but I am in control of my responses.  It's all good!

11:17 PM Folks I am tired! But I am going to squeak this one out for you. Today I could have justified breaking my Whole30! But why? Would breaking it have made my day any better or moved me any closer to being more healthy? Nope!

Shortly after I wrote this morning I was contacted by Brandys school. Long story short - 3 hours at the hospital and a big Thank You God that her leg is not broken!  It was after 3:00 when we were done and I had not eaten lunch yet! We went to mazzios. I had salad bar, lots if veggies, boiled eggs with vinegar and oil to dress it. I hand a handful of cherries about an hour later. Went to the movies with all 3 of my girls tonight - FUN! Except when brandy leaned over to me to tell me it was hurting to swallow. I took macadamian nuts to the movies as my popcorn.  Got home and had an apple with almond butter. Before we went to the movies Made a quick batch of "thank you" "love you" cookies or my hubby as he did a lot of work to my vehicle today. I didn't have one lick or bite. They aren't usually too hard to resist normally. But given the intense day I had - I am proud that I didn't taste the dough or eat a cookie.

Ok - the back of my eyelids are begging for some attention! Lots of love and sweet dreams!!

Hello Day 43 of Whole30!

9:59 AM Good morning friends! Man I am in a great mood today!  I shouldn't be but I am. I mean, I didn't get nearly all that wanted to get done done this weekend.  I had the whole hurt feelings things going on.  I got up, out of bed by 6:20 today but was rushed because I needed to pick up more before the housekeeper came in today.  I ate my breakfast of pork and coconut coffee in the car.  So, things that normally would kinda get me a little down, a little frustrated with myself.  But lets focus on the positive!  Even though I didn't get everything done that I wanted to this weekend.  I got a lot of other stuff done.  I planted flowers in pots, and still have flowers that I need to put in my front flower bed.  My husband and I super power washed our back porch and we rearranged it.  My folks came over for dinner Saturday and Sunday night and we ate on our porch.  My husband helped me power wash my seat cushions for my chairs on the front porch.  Looking at the morning I was rushed, but I got completely ready, folded and put away a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, and did quite a bit of little picking up in preparation for the housekeeper.  I may have eaten breakfast in my car but I am still compliant on Whole30 and let me tell you it is awesome to think I have not put one "processed" thing in my body for 42 days!  I had an 8:30 appointment this morning.  While I was waiting in the parking lot I witnessed an elderly woman with a can walking her dog.  She was actually going to the end of an alley to get her trash can.  The not so elderly neighbor man saw her and came over to grab the trash can and carry it back to her place for her.  He was so kind, she was so appreciative and it was just a sweet sweet thing to witness.  I got to visit with one of my sweet friends at my appointment. I am just happy happy happy!

Tonight I am going to dinner with 2 of my friends who did Whole30 right around the same time I did.  We all started on different days.  Now, this kind of socializing with friends is out of my comfort zone.  So I am nervous and excited all at the same time.

Tomorrow night all three of my girls and I are going to see the new Pitch Perfect movie!

Its going to be a great day and a great week!

10:35 PM oh my goodness it had been a really great day!! I went home for lunch and had my leftover slaw and rib. While I was home I switched out the laundry, and the dishwasher. My cleaning lady hadn't been here yet, that concerned me so I contacted her. She is coming tomorrow!! I thought she was moving us to Mondays but tht was just for the last cleaning. 

I picked brandy up from school at 3:00 and we came home. I switched out laundry, folded and put away all clean, took winter out of the closet and stored it, emptied the dishwasher. Then I got ready for dinner with my two whole30 buddies! It was way better than I imagined!! We were there almost 3 hours but it sure didn't seem like it! It was great! I had my normal pollo loco. The girls both ordered something different and it was all compliant!! Now we all have new options for eating there!! 

I am going to bed super happy tonight!

Goodnight all!

Day 42 Whole30

10:18 PM this is going to be a quicky post as I am pooped!

I got up this morning without an alarm ya'all! Like I got up on time! It was just before 6:00 AM! I had a leftover hamburger wrapped in lettuce with my coconut oil coffee for breakfast.  

For lunch it was a leftover chicken breast and leftover cooked carrots with Ghee.  

Dinner - the hubs grilled ribs!! I seasoned my own - no sauce.  The family had baked beans and corn in the cob.  I made a tomato onion jalepeno cabbage slaw type salad and sliced some avocados for myself. It was good!! 

Worked my hiney off outside with the hubs. Didn't get most of what I needed to done. Have a busy but fun week planned.  It's going to be okay!!

Can't wait for Monday....really I can, I would take another day off...good night!

Day 41 Whole30 - just another day

9:55 PM Well, my feelings are still hurt. Fortunately today I had no emotional food cravings at all! 

I was up well before 6:00. Mainly because I didn't sleep well due to the hurt feelings. But it was all good! Brandy and I had a run this morning! My dad was here at 6:45. I had warmed up some browned hamburger, onions and bell peppers for breakfast. We got coffee and breakfast for dad an brandy on the way.  

Race was so humid! I was worried that I would not improve over my last time, but I think I did! I had a banana after the run and we came home.

Had a pretty fun time shooting from the hip and gallavanting with the hubs and little miss late morning/early afternoon. We got home about 1:00 and I wasn't hungry. I was a bit tired so I laid down for about an hour and kinda dozed in and out. When I got up, I was hungry!  So I are my leftover spaghetti sauce from last night. 

I worked around the house a bit. Then we went and bought flowers to plant! We also invited the folks over for dinner. Grilled burgers. I had my lettuce wrapped master piece! 

Over all my portions were super small today. I was worried last week because I felt like I needed to eat more than I had been. My body must be up to something.

We finished up the evening by getting about half of the flowers potted. Tomorrow I will get the others planes inour  front flower bed. 

Night night for now friends!

Whole30 Day 40 - Habits

9:25 AM Good Morning.  Alright.  I have had my fill of late mornings.  I am going to show myself some grace by saying - This was my first week out of classes - I was out of my routine and also just enjoying the freedom!  But if this continues the consequences will not be pleasant.  I have been staying up later and getting up later.  Neither one of these things are benefiting.  This morning I was wakened by the sound of a kitten very close to my window just after 6:00.  Low and behold, the momma cat had her up on the window seal.  This is the first we have seen of this kitten.  So, the excitement over this kitten and concern over why the momma brought her two us consummed our morning.  Is this a bad thing, no really, we are all animal lovers in our house.  However, it threw out morning completely off track!  I struggled with - do I make breakfast or go through a drive through - again.  I am happy to say I quickly warmed up some leftover pork steak,  added some mayo (I am finding out this mayo is awesome with almost anything) and grabbed a bag of precut carrots.  I ate in the car :-(  I do want to brag on myself a bit...the book mentioned waiting until after breakfast to have your coffee.  I have been successfully doing that for over a week!

So let me say this about habits!  In my opinion, for a life style change to really occur, you must change your habits.  New habits must not only be formed but embedded into our daily routine.  This was one reason I decided to go beyond the 30 days.  I didn't feel my new habits were solidified into my daily routine.  Specifically, getting up earlier, eating breakfast at the table, packing my lunch.  This week has proved to me - my new habits are so not set yet!  Have I made progress, sure!  There are all sorts of mumbo jumbo out there on how many days, weeks, or months it takes to make a new habit.  I think it depends on the person and the habit that is being changed.  I think we have to be very aware of our actions and we have to be very accountable to ourselves!

I am believing I will have a very productive day today.  A day that will set the tone for the weekend and next week.  Its going to be great!

Can't wait to talk again this evening!

9:47 PM Bad night :-( I hate letting my feelings get hurt. I wanted to eat. Pure emotional crutch! I made spaghetti for the family tonight with French/garlic bread. The disaster was set before me! So what did I do? I ate a half a small spaghetti squash and an orange after my dinner of cabbage with compliant spaghetti sauce! Oh wait, then I had hot lemon herbal tea. So I stayed compliant....but I wasn't eating for hunger or health. I am proud of myself though, I think it's a step forward, I didn't cave to unhealthy choices. 

Jumping back to lunch. I came home to eat lunch today. I actually ate at the table! I warmed up 2 chicken breast and made a quick slaw. I ate one chicken breast and about 1/2 of the slaw. 

Today I also drank less than 3 cups of coffee!!! This is pretty huge!! 

Now I am off to bed. Brandy and I have a run in the morning! If I feel like I do now I will be ready to run off some serious steam!! 

Thank you again for reading!

Whole 30 Day 39 - Need to shake it up!

9:01 AM

Good morning friends!  This morning it would have been so easy to skip breakfast!  I was out of bed I think by 6:20.  (I am not doing very good at making forward progress to get out of bed earlier this week) I had a couple of hiccups this morning, things that took longer than they should have, things that delayed me.  I have to admit - a cuss word came out of my mouth, just one.  But I wasn't "stressed" just frustrated.  Anyway, time was not on my side so I thought I would just run through a drive through and get some eggs for breakfast, but I didn't want to because I didn't know if they were real eggs or not, what kind of oil they used...yaddi yaddi.  I checked the time and quickly fried up one egg, cut up a whole avocado, and grabbed a bag of cut carrots.  I did eat in the car.  :-( But I am still on plan!  I did not make my lunch today - no worries, I can drive home to eat or I can safely go out to eat.  Not the perfect morning but nothing that makes the day a waste.  I count it good.

I started looking up new Whole30 recipes yesterday.  It is time to shake things up.  I have been very safe.  Most of the time I grill our meat and fix veggies.  I have had a lot of fun with the veggies.  But this is getting a little old.  I don't want to frustrate my family with food boredom, nor do I want to frustrate myself with food boredom.  I have found a carne asada recipe that will easily be compliant for me but will give my family a shake up as they can make fajita type things out of it and such.  The recipe requires marinating the meat - this always excites me! I came across a couple of meatball recipes - again, very versatile! Plus I think I will try to make a frittata this week.  I have never tried to make one!  So, here is to shaking it up!

Plus, I learned this morning - I am slacking on my prepped items, my go to items.  I didn't have any turkey lunch meat, boiled eggs...that could have been a quick grab and go breakfast.  I didn't have any of the leftover proteins packaged up to grab and go either.  This week end I will take care of that!

Okay - we will visit more tonight!

10:26 PM goodness it's later than I realized! 

Let's see. My dad and I walked down town to eat lunch today. He wanted a sandwich so we went to a little cafe. I ordered the house salad with avocado. However it did not have protien. I worried about it a bit, worried I would get hungry...but I didn't. It was all good.  For dinner I had a pork steak, a small sweet potato and ghee. Too easy!! 

Well it is late! My eyes are heavy. I must sign off.  Have a wonderful evening!!

Whole30 Day 38 - It's a great day to just feel great!

11:01 AM - Busy Morning!

This  morning I was out of bed at 5:15!  No kidding!  Now, I did go back to bed.  We were wakened by someone yelling outside!  It was a little scary.  We tried to see them but couldn't.  We had several windows open so I quickly went and closed/locked the one in my daughters room and just pulled the rest down but not closed.  Within 10 minutes there was no more yelling, so we laid back down.  Then I got out of bed the 2nd time by 6:10.  Today was Walk To School Day!  By 7:00 it was raining so we cancelled Walk to School day.  So I went into chill mode.  The hubby, Brandy and I all ate breakfast at the table today.  That was nice!  Granted they ate together then I got to sit down and eat, but it was still a success as far as I am concerned. I had 2 scrambled eggs with bell peppers, onion, and cilantro, cooked in a decent amount of olive oil. Coffee is black today.  I am consistently at no more than 4 cups per morning now!

So, I mentioned I went into chill mode, which basically means I lost track of time!  In my bliss I was feeling pretty accomplished: Got up early, lunches were made, everyone had breakfast, even had time to curl my hair a bit.  We got into the car and it was a few minutes before 8:00!  I try to leave on a normal day by 7:40, 7:45 at the latest.  In the very recent past this would have thrown me into a full blown tizzy!  Today I took it for what it was.  We were leaving later than normal, Brandy was still going to be on time - not tardy, and I would get to work a few minutes late.  In the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal.  WHO AM I??? Who knew sticking to Whole30 could actually change ones demeanor!? Not me, but isn't is GREAT??? I can't help but to think that the rate in which I get gray hair is starting to slow down!

So there it is for this morning! It is what it is - and it's still GREAT!

9:05 PM I am ready for bed!! Whew a busy but good day! Lunch today was chicken, smashed cauliflower asparagus and mayo.  I don't go walking because it looked like rain. I wish I would have now.  Dinner was leftover roast, Saurkraut and cooked onions. I actually thought I was really hungry so I fixed more than normal but ate the normal amount. I am still perplexed by my lack of or confusing hunger signals. Believing though that the reset in this area is still working itself out. 

Church was great tonight. I keep being reminded of how "free" I now am in this area if my life. I am thinking about other areas I have allowed myself to remain in bondage to and am excited to eliminate these strongholds! I feel that I am in a solid forward progress. 

I am going to read more of the Whole30 book. Good night ya'all!

Whole 30 - Day 37 - Unexpected but needed encouragement!

9:38 AM

Okay - a few little things to say that I haven't been able to remember when I post, until after I posts!

My nails are growing so fast it is insane!  I had a gel manicure last week and took the polish off last night as the new growth was too obvious for the polish to still look good.  I may have to suck it up an master painting my nails at home...I am not going to pay for weekly manicures!  This is a good problem to have.

Hip Bones!  I tend to put my hands on my hips a lot! I had kind of a natural indention where my hands just fit, I assumed that was were the top of my hip bone must be.  The other day I put my hand on my hip and felt a mass!  I used both hands to poke at it, it was awfully hard.  I honestly thought I might have a tumor and I have lost enough weight to feel it now.  Then I had a thought to check the other side.  Dang!  There is a hard mass there too.  As I poke around a bit more I discover they are my hip bones and they come up a bit higher than I thought they did!  I even had my husband feel!

PCOS - if you are a man reading this blog you might want to skip this paragraph. This is all girl talk!  Hormones and cycles!  I had a cycle the first week I was on Whole30.  Obviously I have experienced another cycle.  I can tell a significant difference.  I totally did not expect this.  My premenstrual symptoms that I normally have were drastically reduced.  Normally my breasts are so so sore for a good week, like don't even bump me sore!  I usually cramp a couple days ahead of the start date and it is not pleasant.  I also tend to be VERY tired and literally have no energy for about 2 - 3 days.   And finally the flow itself has been like Niagra.  I noticed one time that my breasts were sore, I felt a couple of twinges of cramping, I had one good nap on Saturday - that was all I have needed and my energy levels have been quite good.  Last night I cleaned out my daughters entire dresser, put all the winter clothes away and neatly organized her summer stuff.  Plus I cleaned two other rooms in the house.  My flow is still heavier than I would like but considerably reduced.

It seems like I am forever thinking - goodness I think I am still getting smaller!  But to me that is ridiculous, how can I still be getting smaller and at a rather quick pace.  I have to divert my thinking because I don't really want to focus on that - I just want to focus on "healthy".  Since the new has worn off I have less people talking to me about what I am doing - and that is fine, but when I was talking about it, it seemed to keep me motivated and encouraged.  This morning my husband asked me if I was going to wait another 30 days to weigh.  I said yes.  He asked if I would weigh and let him see.  I said yes.  I did ask, "Am I still losing?, He said, "Do you really want to know?".  I told him I did but I didn't want to know a number.  He said I am still losing.  I said some thing to the affect that that's good because I think I am getting smaller.  He told me that he knows I am getting smaller - this week he can tell in my saddle bags!  While it made me laugh it was also encouragement I needed to hear.

My dad meets me at work every morning.  I was walking up the side walk and he looked up and looked confused.  Like really confused.  He normally jumps right out of the car when he sees me.  I was right up on the car, looking at his confused face before he got out.  He was shaking his head and laughing.  He said he had to do a triple take to make sure it was me and he was quite serious.  Another piece of encouragement I needed to hear.

Okay - for the normal stuff now.  It was chilly this morning and hubby was cuddly!  I don't regret staying in bed to cuddle.  I just have to realize my morning will be a bit more hectic.  It's an okay trade off when cuddles are involved. So I was out of bed by 6:30.  I thought I was doing pretty good even though I would be eating my breakfast in the car until I realized I hadn't packed Brandy's lunch.  So, she is having school lunch today, which she is okay with, but prefers to take her lunch most days.  My breakfast was turkey deli meat, spinach in the center with some home made mayo.  The home made mayo just made it awesome!  I decided this morning that the fat I choose for meals really helps the flavor variety and excitement.  Tonight I think I will make one of the dressings.

Until later......

9:30 AM Just a quick ending to the day.  Lunch was leftover chicken, grilled veggies, and I decided to try adding some of my home made mayo and it was not bad.  For dinner we grilled pork steaks and asparagus.  I had some leftover smashed cauliflower too with ghee too. 

I went on an hour long walk with a friend. I am pretty sure we did about 3 miles.  The activity was good and so was the company!
I found out today another one of my friends has started Whole30.  I am so excited for her! 

I have an early morning tomorrow so I better be getting to sleep!

Later gators!

Whole 30 - Day 36 - Be intentional

8:32 AM

It's a rather quiet morning here at my office and I am not quite set up to begin tackling the day so I thought I would blog just a bit before I dive into my day.

Today I woke up at 5:40 but I didn't get out of bed until 6:25.  This morning it was chilly and still a little rainy.  Oh how I love a chilly rainy day!  It's been that way all weekend!  I was a little frustrated with myself for enjoying it a little too long and making the morning a bit more hurried.  Fortunately though I was not the least bit stressed!  I still made Brandy and I an egg for breakfast.  I didn't get to sit down with her though.  But, I didn't eat it in the car either, which is good.  I also had a tomato with mine and coconut oil coffee.

This morning made me think about being intentional.  There are some areas that have really become a constant thought since I started this Whole30.  The first, I want to be more intentional in the mornings.  My morning routine has already changed quite a bit, but in the process of that change I have stopped doing some things to add others.  I need to change it so I am still accomplishing all I did before plus these new additions.  This ultimate change adds value and quality to my day, my daughters day and even my husbands day. As I have mentioned before, I even created an AM List.  I just looked at it and it needs to be tweaked a bit since I started Whole30, so today I will tweak it. I will need to take a look at my PM and Weekends list as well.

The second thing I want to be more intentional about is making personal contact with people. Specifically, writing a note or two to people God places on my heart each week. Doing Whole30 I am very thankful for two people.  This week they will get a note from me.  I think maybe it's putting action to my appreciation.  Again, this adds value and quality to my life and hopefully to someone elses life.

The third thing I want to be more intentional about is working out.  It's not that I don't like to do it.  I actually quite love it!  What I don't like is making the time or scheduling it.  If I had my choice every day would be the exact same.  I would do the same thing from start to finish and of course weekend days would be different than week days but they would still have their own weekend order of things. However, I also like variety.  I don't want to do the same workout every day.  I like to wog, I like zumba, I like the weight machines (not those weight benches and stuff in that weight room, they are just scary!), I like yogo ish type stuff.  I think the variety is good to prevent boredom but that requires me to schedule differently depending on the day. I must choose, monotony for the sake of having the same time every day, or variety and scheduling it each week.  Either way, it adds value and quality to my life, I must make it intentional!  I broke my Mile a Day in May streak.  But that doesn't mean I can get back on it and do it for the next 20 days!  I am back on today.

That's what I am thinking about this morning.  Talk to you later!

10:19 PM just a quick finish to my day. Lunch - a quick 1.25 mile walk! Then leftover pork and saukraut. Tonight I grilled boneless skinless chicken breast, grilled zucchini, summer squash and cauliflower. I also made smashed cauliflower. I am getting pretty good at this grilling! Brandy set our table tonight. We enjoyed our dinner and had point blank conversation. There is simply no dancing around the pure truth with her. She is just to smart. It was good! 

I had hoped to go to 8:00 Zumba but hubs had to work late. So I still put on my workout clothes and tennis shoes and got busy around the house. I got in quite a bit of activity and you can certainly see the proof of my work. I love that gratification!! 

I love how Whole30 is changing my life!

Thanks for reading!

Day 35 - Whole 30 - Life is Good

8:36 PM Hello! 

I was out of bed by 6:30 today.  I ended up eating my breakfast in my car - grrr for backsliding.  Even at that though I must say, I am still amazed at how little food it takes to make be feel content.  And the "stop" signal is very clear.  Now, the hunger signal still evades me.  I don't think I feel hunger yet.  I get the shakes like I mentioned yesterday, but shouldn't I be feeling something before the shakes arrive?  This is one of the reasons I am continuing past the initial 30 days.  I don't think my reset is complete.  Oh, for breakfast I heated up leftover steak and onions followed by a few strawberries and coffee with coconut oil.

One of my sweet daughters took me out to lunch for Mother's Day. We split a pollo loco - because I can no longer eat the entire order :-)

When we got home I put a roast in the crockpot with onions and potatoes for dinner . I did not eat the potatoes of course.  I put ghee on the onions, mustard on the roast.  Lordy lordy!  Followed by a few of those wonderful berries!

The strawberries are so incredibly sweet to me.  I don't know if this is because they truly are sweet or if my sensitivity to the natural sweetness has increased. 

The weeks menu is planned, breakfast, lunch and dinner through Saturday.  This is going to be a great week.  No classes.  No homework.  Instead I will have a life for the next few weeks until summer classes.  I can't wait until I am through with school. 

I broke my mile a day May running streak.  Tomorrow I plan to get back on it. 

I don't have a lot to say today - which surprises me!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

D. J.

Day 34 - Whole30 - or should I say Whole60?

8:34 PM It's been one of those "plans change" "shoot from the hip" kinda days. I don't usually do well on days like this. But today I did really well - I had one little tantrum. 

So I was up at 5:00 planning to get ready for a 7:30 run about 30 miles from here.  I checked radar because we have been rather stormy and it was forecasted to continue. Radar didn't look good. Checked again at 5:30 and it didn't look any better. I chose to not go. At 6:50 it was perfect weather. I was bummed! So my hubby, daughter and I went to eat breakfast and to the flea market. I ate at Jimmy Egg - first time since on whole30 - I asked what was in the egg "batter" for the omelets and was happy to find out - only eggs!!! So I ordered it with a lot of veggies and avocado. It sounded good to my dad so we split it! I also had caneloupe and honeydew... don't forget the black coffee.

After the flea market I ran to the farmers market - no great finds EXCEPT beautiful huge strawberries. Came home and cleaned up a large amount of fresh green onions from my neighbors and then was able to go to my nephews soccer game. My husband founds some books for our daughter on our online garage sale sight so I went to get them. 

I forgot to mention that while I was cleaning the onions my hubby was welding something for my dad and somehow he threw his back out. He's been a bit needy since. He is also pretty pitiful so I don't mind his neediness too much. 

Ran to two stores to get lunch (hubby neediness prompted), roast beef, Colby jack cheese, fresh white bread and doritoes. I also had to go get him his allergy medicine. I fixed his sandwich, a tuna sandwich for Brandy, I had some left over browned hamburger so I warmed it up added fresh tomato and some of the green onions along with a spoonful of my home made mayo. Preparing this is when I threw my tantrum. I don't recognize being hungry now until I am shakey, that turns to real shakey when I am trying to get my meal ready. I ended up dropping the container and half of my protein was all over the floor! I said not nice things and then went and collected myself in the laundry room...that is where all moms collect themselves you know. Then I came back out and cleaned the kitchen before I fixed my lunch. It was a small amount of food for lunch - but this is part of the beauty of Whole30 - it was enough!!! I was fine!!  I finished it with 3 of those beautiful strawberries! Then I got to go to my nieces soccer game - unfortunately shortly after the half it was called due to the weather. Came home and took an AWESOME nap! The whole family did!! 

Dinner - chicken tenders and home made fries for the hubby and daughter.  I cooked up diced steak with more of those yummy fresh green onions. Put it on a bed of spinach and tomatoes then squeezed fresh lime over it. Followed by a few strawberries!!

I don't necessarily like to make different meals but today I cleaned up a few leftovers. 

So while it's been a little chaotic it's still been a good day. My husband laid up in his recliner would not agree - lol!

That was my day!!

Day 33 Whole30 - is it Euphoria?

9:23 PM I don't know what it feels like to be euphoric but I might be there. I am so shocked that I don't stress about food now. 

I got up LATE this morning due to minimal sleep last night.  Somehow I still had time to sit down at the table and eat breakfast! A leftover burger, pico, and avocado. Minimal coffee this morning. I sent my dad a text and asked if he would bring me a black coffee - he brought me a latte from my favorite coffee shop. So, I decided to drink it. I can't believe what I am about to say...it was not awesome. I didn't hear angelic music when I took that first sip, I didn't even close my eyes to savor it, it wasn't with the savor. I nursed it for a bit but easily threw it away 3/4 of it. People who know me, they know I don't toss good coffee. I didn't expect this.  But I am totally ok with it. 

Lunch time my dad calls and wants to go to lunch. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant - for those of you who don't live in Tahlequah please know we have an abundance of Mexican restaurants - I know it seems like I am always eating Mexican. I had my trusty pollo loco. I wonder how many Mexican meals I have made it through in the past 30 days that I haven't had a single chip?? No will power requires!

Dinner. I have been greatly opposed to cooking 2 dinners for most of my wife life. You know, one for me and one for them. Mainly because it was to darn tempting. Tonight my hubby and little girl got chicken cordon blue, rice, and carrots. I ate a chicken thigh and leg, coleslaw and carrots. No temptation, no resentment and no feeling deprived. 

I made another batch of home made mayo tonight! I plan to make a creamy avocado dressing with it tomorrow and maybe the ranch!!

My grocery shopping will be minimal if not non existent this week since I kinda stocked up last week. Tomorrow I will take an inventory of our food and make our menu based on that.

I am going to read some more whole30 now!

Stay safe tonight!

Bonus Post!

I can't sleep! Which stinks because I am really tired! BUT, I finished It starts with food so you know what that means?  I got to start the new The Whole30 - 30 day guide!! I am on page 4 and I am already getting pumped up! This is going to be great! As excited as I am to read, I would honestly rather be asleep. Oh well! So I read a piece from a whole30 gal who has been on it over a year...I had the thought, "I can see that" I kinda shocked myself! But really, I have said this will be my new lifestyle-but I really just had an already imbedded belief in this drastic change becoming permenant! This is big for me and to me. 

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe God lines things up for is when He wants us to take notice. Sometimes it's subtle and sometimes it's like a frying pan up the side of your head moment. I am thankful I got it on the subtle promotings this time. I either read about Whole30 or heard about it. I mentioned it to a friend and she excitedly told me about a young lady who was doing Whole30 - again, this is not coincidence, God is always at work for our behalf! I read the gals blog of her journey and I was in. Now, I am never looking back!

That's it - hope you enjoyed the bonus post!

Whole 30 day 32

 7:29 PM Oh my goodness it has been a rough week! Seriously, this is one of those weeks I would normally be downing skittles, peanut m&ms, and diet coke! Today I even thought a diet coke would be nice! No worries, it was a fleeting thought.

This morning I struggled to get out of bed. It was near 2am when I quit studying, that I actually went to bed. I plan on a very early bed time tonight! This morning I had my breakfast in te car! A slip!  It will not happen tomorrow. My breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs with bell pepper and tomatoes. Black coffee. I had a lot of coffee today.

Lunch was a leftover chicken leg and thigh with compliant cole slaw. I normally eat at my desk, I plan to stop that. Must enhance that down time!

Dinner was fun! Idecided to try to make potato puffs (sweet and white) on the grill. I only ate the sweet potatoes. They were awesome!!! I just cut the potatoes into wedges and covered them in olive oil and salt. Surprisingly they cooked fairly fast! I also grilled some pork. We ate on our table on our back porch. I love that the weather has been so accommodating for so long this spring! 

Today was my last final/class for this semester. I still have about 54 hours until I graduate. It seems like forever! I am shooting to graduate in May of 2017. I have 24 days until summer school. I hope those days go be real slow.

Previous to Whole30 when I would get home from work I would think I was ravenous and be in a panic to eat. Today as I was working at an easy pace on dinner, I realized that even after a ridiculously intense day, I was calm and totally in control! Thank you whole30! My life is changing little by little and all for the better. 

Hey! Don't forget your momma this Sunday!

Have a great evening.

Whole30 day 31 - before and afters

12:53 PM I lost 17.4 pounds and 9.5 inches! I feel amazing physically and mentally! To say I am happy I have done this and found this is an understatement. My official before and after pictures in my seahawks shirt aren't very good. I honestly wasn't very hopeful that I would experience the success that I have so I didn't really care about what I wore in my before pics because I didn't expect to have after pics. 

Fortunately my husband likes to take pics and he had a before pic and had me posed for an after pic a little over a week ago. I think you can see my progress much better in this one.

Again - I am thrilled and I am sticking to it for another 30 days. After this next 30 days the book talks about reintroduction of the things we have eliminated. Ultimately a form of this way of eating will be my norm. Again, I feel way way to good to think I should go back.

9:31 PM Today I got to have lunch with my middle daughter and my grandson (that belongs to my oldest daughter). We ate at a Mexican restaurant I don't usually eat at and they did not have my trusty pollo loco. So I scoured the menu, found something and tweaked it to be very similar to pollo loco but WAY better! 

Tonight was potluck at church. I love Saurkraut! But be advised you should not take a Saurkraut to potluck. Apparently not many people like it! Lol! More for me!! I also so packed some avocado, veggies and a small leftover hamburger. I ended up needing the avocado and veggies. So all went well. 

I am kinda sad my 30 days are over. Even though I have committed to another 30 it's not the same.  But it's also been a very intense past couple of days. My mind hurts! My pizzazz level might be a little low due to that.  One more final tomorrow - will be up quite a while tonight preparing for it. After I get that done I think I will loosen up quite a bit!

So let's just keep on keeping on!! 

Sleep well friends!

Welcome to Whole30 Day 30!

7:52 PM Well folks I made it! Tomorrow morning I will weigh in and hopefully measure. It has been way easier than I thought it would be and volumes more rewarding than I thought it would be!  Yes, I am going for 30 more days. Partly because I don't think my new habits are solidified yet and partly because I think my body needs more time to complete the reset. I am happy to keep going!

I was up and out of bed by 6:10 this morning. I was sitting down to eat at 7:10. I am really trying to eat within the first hour of waking up. I had two eggs scrambled with pico and a half of an avocado and don't forget that black coffee. I am also trying to have 4 or less cups of coffee in the morning too.  

Stressful morning of training/meeting.  At lunch time I went for a very brisk walk for 23 minutes. Then sat down to eat two thick slices of turkey deli stuffed with greens, pico and avocado.

A bowl of chocolate was brought into the meeting and I had no trouble resisting. 

I grilled chicken thighs and legs tonight. I was thrilled initially that I could have the skin too. Not so much now, it's kinda gross.   So I had 2 thighs and a leg. I made cabbage, carrot, avocado cole slaw with my homemade mayonnaise. I took my plate out to the table in the back porch and are. No phone, no TV. Hubs came out and talked to me. He and my little miss ate dinner out while I was taking a final.

 Tomorrow is potluck at church. I am ready!!

That's all for today beautiful friends!!

Whole30 - Day 29 - Smooth sailing!

8:43 AM Only 2 more days folks! Until I can weigh anyway.  I am so excited.

I got up this morning at 5:58 - Yes, out of bed before 6:00 and it was pretty darn easy! I got up early for a couple of reasons.  1) It's housekeeper day.  My house was not as picked up as I wanted it to be.  I think we have discussed this before.  I like for her to be able to clean as deeply as possible so I clean up the surface stuff.  2) I was cooking for my husband as well this morning since he is on Whole30! I can't even tell you how happy this made me!  On so many levels!  Having hubby on it now has made it a little more challenging.  He seriously will only eat 4 vegetables.  Green beans, carrots, onions, and bell peppers, oh and he will eat lettuce.  But hopefully I will easily work around it.  I want to help him be successful too.

I am almost through with my second reading of It Starts with Food and then I am on to the new Whole30 book.  I am looking forward to new recipes!

Oh, I didn't tell you what I made for breakfast!  Steak strips and sliced onions cooked in a skillet with olive oil.  I added pico to mine,  Hubby just had the steak and onions.  He is not a big breakfast eater so it was hard for him to eat.

Okay that's all for this morning.

9:45 PM. Bad news. Hubby didn't make it through day 1. Sadness. He made it until he got home. He had a bad day. He are cereal and a hot dog. I would have never said he was one to emotionally eat. Now I wonder if we all. Don't emotionally eat to some extent. 

More bad news. The chicken I put in the frig to thaw was still too frozen to cook when I got home. So what to fix everyone to eat? Brandy wanted her leftover chicken tenders salad, so she is taken care of. Bobby had his cereal and hot dog. He is good. Okay then!! I know I have 2 leftover grilled chicken thighs and I found leftover broccoli and summer squash in the frig. No worries!!! And there is some good news, now I don't have to remember to lay anything out for dinner tomorrow! Ha!!

Let me jump backwards - lunch was a leftover burger, grilled zucchini and onions from last night. We had cake and ice cream at work today for our graduating student workers. I had not problems resisting.

I did my mile tonight. Jogged quite a bit of it. Feeling pretty proud. 

I can't believe tomorrow is day 30. I am so serious when I say it does not feel like it has been 30 days.

On a really serious super honest note. I am sad hubby didn't make it through the day. I kinda feel bad that I have been successful. I am let down that I won't have the experience of doing this with him. Plus when he is down about his day/work it worries me a great deal and upsets me. I want to get in his head and tweak how he is seeing things, change his perspective, and get his focus on God and not the circumstances. It's hard not to get down with him. It's hard to not get scared. But..I know my God is bigger than Hubby's situation. I know God is faithful to complete His good work and I believe He has started a very good, very important thing with this job - and I know He isn't through. My faith has to be big and bold, my words and actions kind and encouraging. I pray my evident faith will lift his.

Deep breath. God is good ya'all. He has proven it to me personally time and time again. What he does for me he will do for any one of his children. 

Whew - you got a little bonus tonight, didn't ya? 

Have a great evening. Count your blessing. And I will talk to you on Day 30!!

Day 28 - Whole30 - I am so close!

10:35PM great day today! Normally we try to nap on Sunday. I laid down and got to read about 30 minutes but our phones were just going nuts and then somebody wanted to come over...so no nap and ....I survived!!! With no problem! Amazing!

So let me tell you about the rest of my day.  Up at 6:30 ish. I do try to sleep in just a bit on Sunday because it's the only day I have a decent shot at it...but it's stupid because I need to be to church by 7:45. An hour is not enough time to get ready and eat breakfast. I grabbed 2 slices of turkey, some pico and headed out the door. I thought I was on computers today, but a change put me on stage, so instead of eating during worship practice I needed to wait until practice was over. But once it was over we were having computer problems so I helped with that. At about 9:45 i could have eaten my breakfast but I didn't think it a good idea since I would be singing in 15 minutes. Bottom line - I did not eat breakfast today! Do not try this!! 

We went to lunch after church and I had a little steak and a double order of green beans. Yum!

Home, tried the nap, phones kept us from the nap. So I get up, clean a little, make the menu for this week, and go to the store. My grocery bill was $150...but keep in mind I fed 10 people tonight and I stocked up on meat because I want to make sure we have enough this week. That will make more sense when you read about my husband later in the post. Had 6 family members over for dinner. Whew! I had a lettuce wrapped burger with onion, pickle, tomato and my homemade mayo along with grilled zucchini and grilled onions. Yum! 

A couple of days ago my husband ask me to let home see how much I have lost. I refused. The next day my sister in law basically asked the same thing, so of course I weighed for her but I did not look and made her swear she would not tell me. Then I felt bad so I weighed for my hubby. Today he tells me he would like to try this whole30! What???? He has never ever done any kind of healthy anything with me before!! I am shocked! I am so excited! He is starting tomorrow! My 30th day is Tuesday but I have decided I am going 30 more days! I am ready and my husband is too! I wonder...who else will give this whole 30 a try??? I will post my weight and hopefully measurements and before and after pics on Wednesday!  So so close!

Day 27 - whole30 - cakes frosting and parties, oh my!

8:45 PM it's been a fantastic day but I  very happy it is winding down. 

I was up at about 7:30 this morning. I got ready and fixed an egg for brandy and 2 eggs with bell peppers and mushrooms for myself. I used ghee as my fat. Black coffee today. The past two days I have unintentionally only had a cup to a cup and a half of coffee. That's pretty odd for me. I didn't notice any side affects though - good or bad.  

I started in on the cakes as soon as my breakfast was in my tummy. I finished them both by 11:30. I didn't expect to be done until 1:00. So yeah for me. I seriously went and laid in the sunshine in a lawn chair for about 20 minutes. Lunch for me was leftover shredded chicken, avocado and a nice portion of pico de gallo- home made of course! Then off to take care of some errands - one of which was to buy some shorts or capris. Shopping is not my favorite thing to do. But today I was happy. I went in wearing my quite baggy size 22 capris and walked out with some size 18 shorts!

We went to my grandsons second birthday party! My daughter so sweetly made sure I had compliant protein, veggies, compliant salsa, and avocados! So my walk through the wonderful taco bar was easy peasy! When we cut the cake I did think a small piece would be nice but just because I like cake, especially when I made it! Not because I was craving it. So I seriously was fine without it. 

I got in a mile (mile a day may) when I got home. Brandy kept me company and that's always awesome! Now, well now I  am tired and ready for bed!

Good night you fine people!

Until tomorrow!

Day 26 - Whole30 - Its's cake making time!

9:25 PM  Well it's been a day! My day started a bit before 4 AM and it was certainly not due to my body wanting to wake up due to Whole30 awesomeness.  My 7 year old woke me, coughing and as pitiful as can be.  For the next 2 hours we fought to get the cough under control.  I am not kidding, she could not go 30 second without coughing.  Cough medicine is always a last resort in our house, we resorted to cough syrup.  She finally slept.  I thought for sure she would be out for at least 3 hours.  About an hour later I was up fixing breakfast.  Cereal for Brandy and scrambled eggs with onions and bell peppers cooked in them along with my coffee.  I had a few errands to run so I thought we should get them done quickly this morning because surely she would need to take an incredible nap and I was planning to join her.  So errands are done and we get home in time to have some lunch.  We have some leftover pizza from the best pizza place in the world, it sure sounds good, so Brandy gets a couple of pieces.  I warm up a leftover salmon patty and had it with some col4:00eslaw.   As soon as she laid down the coughing came back with a vengeance.  No nap with either of us get any sleep and let me just say I am tired!  The folks are coming over for dinner, so I started that at about 4:00. The hubby had a special dinner request this morning.  Of course I agreed, he has been so good and supportive.  This is the first time I have fixed 2 separate main courses.  I made it through, I had grilled chicken thighs and grilled asparagus.  To top it all off I have a wedding cake to prepare for a wedding tomorrow and a cake for my grandsons second birthday.  Not only am I tired but I have never made a cake that I didn't taste the batter and/or the baked cake along with the frosting.  I have baked 6 cakes and have not had one taste at all! I just have the frosting to get through now.  So, seriously, its been a day.

I did get in a mile tonight - I committed to a mile a day in May! 

All in all its been a rough day and at the same time it has been a good day.  A unplanned day with my little girl and even though she wasn't feeling the best, I did get blessed by hearing her say, "You are the best mom ever".  I may be tired but I won't get too many more days to take care of her like this.  I already know how fast they grow since I have a 20 year old and a 24 year old. I love my life.  I love that even on a rough day I have had enough energy in the tank to get through.  I thank Whole30 for that. 

This evening I pulled out the vaporizer, gave Brandy cough medicine about 30 minutes before she laid down, and it smells like Vicks.  She has been laying down for about an hour and she has not started coughing yet. Praying for a peaceful night.

It's a short post - but that's ok!

Until tomorrow!

Love ya ~ D. J.