Operation No Muffin Top: Days Seventeen - Twenty-Three

Whoa. Ok, so sorry for slacking on this - I would say I've been crazy busy but lets be honest, I'm never really that busy. Unless busy means watching weird documentaries on Netflix every night and being in bed by 8:30pm - in that case I'm sorry, I've been SUPER busy.

So I have to say that I've been pretty happy lately. I feel really good - well rested, energetic, clear headed - and now that I'm finishing up the 3rd week I think some good habits have finally formed. I don't miss drinking at all on the weekdays anymore, and my cravings for chocolate have gone down considerably. I even sometimes really just want roasted vegetables. Like that's what I truly want for dinner. I don't even know myself anymore.

Also, I know the last time I wrote I said I would tell you all another positive side effect of Whole30. One of the best ones that I've been keeping from you is that people - and I mean like 5 separate people from different friend groups in my life - have told me that my skin looks great. I have always suffered from a somewhat uneven and blotchy skin tone, but just a couple weeks into this diet it was looking considerably more even and clear, and you know what, I'll just say it - there's a glow. 

So that is a definite plus! Now if only there was a diet and exercise plan that could make my feet less gnarly, we'd really be in business.

On that note, here's what I ate!

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

Banana with Justin's Almond Butter, bag of cashews and raisins.
Lunch:
Leftover Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
Dinner:
Blackened Tilapia Lettuce Wrap Tacos with Homemade Chipotle Mayo

Delciousness:
These were fantabulous, and will definitely be going into the regular dinner rotation. They were so easy, fast, and filling - a triple threat! I just rubbed some pre-made cajun seasoning from WholeFoods all over the fish, pan fried it about 3 minutes on each side since the tilapia was thin, and threw it in a lettuce leaf with some red cabbage, spicy mayo, and avocado slices. Squeeze a little lime over it and it's ready to eat! #obsessed.

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Banana and a bag of cashews and raisins.
Lunch:
I didn't have anything leftover for lunch, so I got some chicken and vegetables at a deli buffet by work. It was just eh - I spent the whole time I was eating it just really wishing I had made more of that delicious BBQ Chicken. Here's a fun game for all of you readers not doing a whole30 and enjoying alcoholic beverages - have a shot every time I write BBQ Chicken. You will be Lindsay Lohan'ed in no time, and can drunkenly order some BBQ chicken from Seamless. Now take 3 shots!

Dinner:
Roasted Vegetables in Red Pesto with Bacon.

Delciousness:
This is a recipe dreamed up by Chris's brother Adam, and it is one of my all-time favorites. This was my first time re-creating it on my own and somehow I feel like it didn't come out quite as good as when Adam makes it, but it was still good enough for me to have seconds, so it definitely was a success. And easy too! Just throw together a bunch of veggies - I used red, orange, and yellow peppers, onion, asparagus, and brussell sprouts - with about 4 diced slices of bacon, toss with a jar of red pesto (found with the jars of spaghetti sauce), and roast for 45 minutes or so in a 400 degree oven. Adam usually serves it with a dollop of fresh burratta on top, which is truly amazing, but I opted for 2 poached eggs since dairy is off limits. It was a delight.

SATURDAY

Brunch:

Slept in and had a late Diner brunch! Eggs over-easy with sausage and potatoes. Heaven.
Dinner:
Dinner out with family at our favorite Tapas place. We had shrimp, potatoes bravas, octopus, sausage, artichokes, calamari, and probably some other deletables I can't remember. What I DO remember is having iced tea while everyone else shared a massive pitcher of my favorite sangria.

SUNDAY (Day 20!!)

Brunch:

Scrambled eggs with bacon and sweet potato hashbrowns.
Dinner:
Fish tacos again! Are they my new BBQ Chicken? (drink!)

MONDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry Warrior smoothie from the gym - banana, strawberries, dates, and almond milk. So good.
Lunch:
I didn't have any leftovers to bring, so I just got some vegetable soup delivered.

Having vegetable soup for lunch is basically like having some nice hot air. I was starving about 20 minutes after I finished it, so I had to go downstairs and get my trusty old raisins and cashews, plus another banana. No more vegetable soup on its own for lunch! Lesson. Learned.
Dinner:
Dinner out with our besties, John and Emily! They didn't want to drink either, so we had the cutest little sober dinner at Edwards. Chris and I both had our favorite warm frisee salad with some tea, and it all felt very healthy and relaxing.

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry banana smoothie
Lunch:
Hale & Hearty Vegetable Soup with a Chicken Avocado Salad.
Dinner:
Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy (I used chicken broth instead of wine, ghee instead of butter, and Tapioca starch for the flour) with Mashed Cauliflower and Roasted Asparagus. So good!

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry banana smoothie
Lunch:
Hale & Hearty Vegetable Soup with a Chicken Avocado Salad. 

Dinner:
Adam made us curry! It was seriously some of the best curry I have ever had...the sauce wasn't thin like it sometimes is when you order it and I didn't even miss rice or naan.

And that's what I ate! Sorry for waiting so long to post and then keeping it so short and boring. I promise to not go this long without writing again, especially since I only have ONE WEEK LEFT!!! Wahooo see ya next time!

Operation Stop The Chub Rub: Days Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen

Hi Everyone!

I am happy to say that I am in a much better place than the last time I wrote. I made it past the halfway mark, and that alone has raised my spirits back up. Looking back on last week and analyzing the dark place I was in, I think I have figured out why those few days before the middle hump are the hardest. It's because on day ten you really feel like you have been doing this program for a while - anyone who has ever done a strict diet can tell you that one day dieting is like 3 days to the average legume, sugar-consuming person - and you still aren't even halfway done. So the weeks seem like they are just looming ahead of you without an end, and the thought of eating eggs on every single one of those days makes you want to cry. But I am happy to say that once you push through it, and force yourself to get past day 15, the sun miraculously comes out again. The rest of this Whole30 seems like a breeze now that I only have 2 weekends left before I can fulfill my dreams of enjoying a peanut butter nutella smoothie. Spiked with vodka.

Anyways, now that I'm no longer a danger to myself or society, I can actually tell you about some of the GOOD things I am experiencing. Due to the uncharacteristic and terrifying rage I experienced the last time I weighed myself...

I have decided not to step on the scale again until these 30 days are over. I am now just going to stay on the diet, keep going to the gym, and focus on how my clothes feel. Which is working! I am in a good mood today because I'm wearing a pair of pants I haven't worn since before Whole30 started and am pleased to report that they feel 10 times better. Last time I had them on they were actually kind of painfully uncomfortable, and now they are borderline loose. So...I guess we have all just solved the mystery and learned that the problem is my bathroom scale is broken beyond repair.

Another positive I didn't expect was that I feel so much more productive than I ever have before. When you're not drinking or going out to dinner, you go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. When you get plenty of sleep, it's easy to get up early and go to the gym. When you go to the gym in the morning, it gives you the whole night after work to try new recipes, do laundry, catch up on Homeland, read, and start knitting again. This can all be accomplished before 9pm when it's time to go back to bed and sleep 8 hours, until the next day when you have to find more shit to do with your neverending sober free time. I have basically done 3 months worth of endeavors in the last 2 weeks.

So there you go, a couple positives and I have a few more to tell you about the next time I write, just trying not to blow my load all at once here. Until then, here's what I ate!


MONDAY

Breakfast:

I went to the gym around 7, so I just had a banana before, and an apple with Justin's Almond Butter when I got to work. That didn't really satiate me though, so around 10 I had a bag of cashews and raisins as well.
Delciousness:
I desperately needed a break from eggs, so this was the best I could do. It tasted good but fruit just isn't filling, so I felt like I ate a lot more nuts than I should have.

Lunch:

Leftover Beanless Chili
Delciousness:
Pretty good, but without the beans it's not as filling as normal chili. I just realized I wrote about 2 meals not being "filling" in the past 30 seconds. Basically I'm just always hungry. Always.

But that just means it's working, right?

Dinner:

We ordered from our old favorite, Edwards. We both got the Warm Frisee Salad, which is frisee, roasted garlic, and bacon with a poached egg on top and mustard viniagrette.
Delciousness:
This is my favorite salad in the whole world, probably because the lettuce is the only vegetable. Seriously, it's amazing.

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs.
Lunch:
Leftover Beanless Chili
Dinner:

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken made with Homemade Smoky Hot BBQ Sauce, with mashed cauliflower and a spring salad. Homemade applesauce for "dessert".

Delciousness:
Oh my god, this is the best thing I have eaten in a while. That barbecue sauce is SO GOOD. And the recipe makes a ton so we can have this for dinner for weeks if we want to! It was also super easy and only took about 30 minutes total. I am obsessed.

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

Went to the gym again, so had the same breakfast as Monday - banana before 7, then apple with almond butter and a bag of cashews & raisins once I got to work. I really need to relax on the nuts.
Lunch:
Leftover Oven Baked BBQ Chicken.  I seriously think I could have this every day. And you will really believe me soon because...
Dinner:
I made the BBQ Chicken again!!! I couldn't get enough. Chris was out at a hockey game so I thought maybe I would use the opportunity to eat something he doesn't like but I do, like salmon, but I decided my true craving was for more of that delicious chicken. So trust me, make that for dinner asap. You won't be disappointed.

Aaaaand that's what I ate! Hope you enjoyed it because from here on out I will be skipping the portion of the blog where I tell you my meals, since you can just know that they will all be barbecue chicken. Just kidding! Kind of. See ya next time!

Is This Stupid Diet Even Worth It? Days Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen

Hi! Ok, I'm sorry for taking so long to post again, but I have been super cranky over this diet and haven't been in the mood to write fun, uplifting, funny posts. I was going to just wait it out until I felt better but then my friend told me this is exactly the kind of thing I should be writing about, so in the interest of full disclosure, I will get super real with you right now about my struggles. If you are thinking about doing a Whole30 and don't want to read a few paragraphs of venting without a happy ending, maybe just skip this post.

So. I have been on this diet for almost 2 weeks now, and I'm just not seeing the results I was expecting. The first week was great with my 6 lb weight loss, but this week I not only tried to cut back on the bacon and watch my portions, I also worked out 5 times, didn't cheat at all, and somehow gained back 2 lbs!  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??

And what is really annoying me is the fact that I haven't even had one sip of an alcoholic beverage. It's not the food that is becoming cumbersome (although that kind of is, too), it's the fact that I can't enjoy a glass of wine with my friends at dinner, or have a beer while I watch the Superbowl. I actually have zero desire to overindulge with drinking at all, I just want to have one or two socially like a normal person.

A boozy brunch!! I look back on this and am
reminded of a time when I used to smile and laugh.

Basically, at first this was fun because it was new and changes in my body were happening rapidly, but now that I'm in the thick of it and not much is happening it really sucks. Don't worry, I'm not going to quit or anything - writing this blog is making me accountable to see this through - just know that if it wasn't for you readers I would be living out my current fantasies of drunkenly doing kareoke while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a king-sized drumstick ice cream cone simutaneously.

So once again, I'm sorry to be such a downer after a long wait for a blog post. I'm sure this is just a normal part of detoxing and my sparkling personality will bounce back soon.  Until then, here is a list of everything I ate so you can know my pain.

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs
Lunch:
Leftover Soy Glazed Roast Chicken with leftover Cauliflower Mash and Roasted Broccoli
Dinner:
Chris cooked! He made his own Red Thai Curry. 
Recipe:

Garlic – 3 cloves chopped

Ginger root – thumbsized bit chopped

1 medium onion chopped

1-2 tbsp Red Thai curry paste

Olive oil

1 lb Chicken

1 can Coconut Milk

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 cup Pineapple

Veggies – I like Peppers, Water Chestnuts, bamboo shoots

1 thai chilli (birdseye or finger are other names)

Heat wok or other large skillet on medium-high and add olive oil. Add chopped garlic and ginger and cook for one minute. Then add the red thai paste and cook off again for another minute - this heats the paste & starts to release the oils etc in the spices. Add the onion and cook again for a minute or two, then add the chopped (and de-seeded!) chili pepper, followed by the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally to make sure the chicken doesn't burn. Finally add the coconut milk, the fish sauce, a little thai basil & kafir lime leaf if you have it, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Then add the veggies and pineapple and let them simmer as well until they are heated through, but not soft. Serve by itself or over some cauliflower rice.

Delciousness:

The thai food was amazing and it was so nice to have a break from the kitchen! If you are craving something healthy but sick of grilled chicken and a side of vegetables, then this is it!

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs
Lunch:
Leftover Soy Glazed Roast Chicken with leftover Cauliflower Mash
Dinner:
We ordered in!  It was FREEZING on Friday night and I didn't feel like going to the store, so we had Indian food delivered.

Delciousness:

I bet a reason I am so cranky is that I kept eating that damn Soy Chicken even though it sucked!  Also, the only Indian food I really like is tikka masala, which unfortunately is cream-based, so I had to order a normal curry. It was good, but without rice and naan to soak up the sauce it was kind of unsatisfying. We also branched out with some vegetable sides we had never tried before, and they were underwhelming. I really miss carbs.

SATURDAY

Breakfast:

Banana before the gym, then an Equinox smoothie after that had a banana, strawberry, almond milk, and flaxseeds. I actually was that person that asked to see the almond milk they used to make sure it had no sugar or soy. It was embarrassing.
Lunch:
Brunch at Edwards! I had the cobb salad without cheese and a coffee. Kristin had a glass of rose and an omelet with cheese and I was in serious danger of causing a scene, I was so jealous.

But on the plus side, Chris stuck on the diet with me and had a virgin bloody mary which he called a "bloody shame", so that made me lol. Also my salad was scrumptious - if you're ever looking for a casual lunch in Tribeca, go to Edward's, it's a gem.
Dinner:
Saturdays seem to be a challenge for us when it comes to dinner. Once again, we couldn't agree and ended up making separate meals. I was STARVING and hadn't had eggs yet that day so I was craving a big breakfast for dinner, and Chris wanted something "light, like a salad." So I said F that and made myself a bomb breakfast dinner of poached eggs, sweet potato hash browns, and bacon. It was everything I had hoped for and more.

SUNDAY

Breakfast:

I had the exact same thing I had for dinner the night before with some roasted asparagus as a welcome addition. I was actually in a good mood on Sunday morning, as you can see.

Lunch/Dinner
Since it was the Superbowl we had some people over and made a ton of food, so I didn't really sit down to a separate lunch and dinner. Here are some things we had:
Beanless Chili
Dry Rubbed Ribs
Hot Wings (ordered in)

Delciousness:

The chili with olives instead of beans was surprisingly good! It had a distinct Mexican flavor and I served it with some guacamole on top which was new for me, but so delicious I will continue to use guac instead of sour cream even when I'm not doing whole30 anymore. Hot wings and ribs were great too - they felt like a treat. What didn't feel like a treat was drinking iced tea while everyone else had beer and wine and cheesy dip with french bread. That was the opposite of a treat.

Sigh. That's enough negativity for today. I'll write again tomorrow about Monday & Tuesday, and promise to give you some positives! Plus, I will officially be at the halfway point! See ya then!