My Whole 30: The Last Ten Days

If the middle of my Whole30 was the worst part, the last ten days were my magical days. I'm not sure what tiger blood is supposed to be, but it wasn't some kind of mystical thing for me. I just gradually started to feel amazing. Noticeably happier. More patient. I let more joy into my life. I had energy whenever I wanted to use it. I WANTED to do things like clean out the garage and sweat. I felt my body toning up and changing. I had a little hiccup at the end, but when I turned to Whole30 food, the food was healing. Anyway, more on all of that in my wrap up post. 

The last ten days I felt a lot more comfortable with the food which means the meals got a little less fancy. I have rediscovered my love of tuna salad, so you'll see a lot of that. and lots of eggs. Details and food from the last ten days below.

Day 21:This was one of the first days I noticed my energy just running really constant and high. We helped some friends clean up from the flood and then I came back to feed the kids and put them to bed. And I was ready for more. Breakfast (no picture) was bacon, eggs, and berries.

Lunch Day 21: tuna salad, dates, almond butter, leftover apple

Dinner Day 21: Grilled salmon with a mayo based caper dill sauce,
roasted asparagus, and sauteed zucchini with red pepper.

 Day 22: So much extra energy, I decided to spend all morning cleaning out the garage. In the June heat with the mosquitoes. That was a change of pace. Then took both kids to the pool at the Y with friends. Two kids vs one me at the pool. I don't know if they won or we all lost. Or maybe we all won. Hard to say. Lots of energy all day.

Breakfast Day 22: poached egg with tuna salad over baby spinach
and aged balsamic.

Lunch Day 22: AMAZING. Cherry tomatoes, green pepper, onion, Ghee
and garlic sauteed with zoodles. Chicken and sun dried tomato sausage.

Dinner Day 22: Clean out the fridge salad with a fried egg on top.

 Day 23: Back to work. Noticing loose clothes, overall happiness and great focus. Not losing my patience with the kids = better behaved kids. Who knew?

Breakfast Day 23: Scrambled eggs with pesto, cantaloupe, tomatoes
and avocado.

Lunch Day 23: Even more Tuna Salad at work. Jealous?

Dinner Day 23: Roasted chicken, roasted veggies on top of tossed
baby spinach salad.

 Day 24: This is my 5am pilates day and for the first time in a LONG time, it was not murder to wake up at 4:30am. I'm not saying it was fantastic, it was just not murder. Still with the constant energy and focus. Lots of great sleep happening.

Breakfast Day 24: Tuna Salad. Because eggs get old. But apparently
Tuna Salad does not.

Lunch Day 24: At work. Greek Salad with leftover roasted chicken
and an apple.

Dinner Day 24: Brisket with gravy, roasted carrots, sweet potato,
and spinach.

Day 25: Things were really starting to come together. I just felt really good in my own skin. I could remember tons of things without having to make lists and my energy was off the charts. I had to put on a bathing suit for my son's swim class and I didn't even think twice about it.

Breakfast Day 25: The day I discovered monkey salad. With
fried eggs over sauteed spinach.

Lunch Day 25: At work. Tuna Salad in a bell pepper, cantaloupe,
apple.

Dinner Day 25: Zoodles and ground bison topped with tomato sauce

Day 26: I was feeling amazing. Fun wedding this night (which was sober and cakeless but still a blast) and got to have lunch with Landy. AND the dress I wore to the wedding was one I bought right after my own wedding when I was pretty trim. Non scale victories.

Breakfast Day 26: Fried eggs over spinach, fresh berries and banana.

Lunch Day 26: Chicken veggie salad that came with a blob of goat cheese
on top. I had a hungry four year old with me and I was STARVING so I just picked it off.

Dinner Day 26: Dinner at a wedding= mood lighting. I had to give lots of evil side eye to the
roast beef slicer who continuously tried to skimp me.

Day 27: Was a busy one. Running on not a ton of sleep from the wedding the night before and we had some of our dear friends over for brunch before they headed out of town. Then an afternoon birthday party. The kids were a mess, but it was actually pretty ok. My energy at the end of the day was not as high, but not as low as it could have been.

Breakfast Day 27: Monkey salad with banana, blueberry, shaved coconut
almond butter, and chopped dates.

Lunch was actually breakfast. We had friends over and did bacon, eggs & fruit salad.
and a pyramid of donuts, but guess who didn't have any? Spoiler alert: It was me.

Dinner Day 27: can you tell I am getting lazy by this point? Leftover
roasted chicken, baby kale and spinach salad and the avocado my son
wouldn't finish.

Day 28: The day that did me in. Sunday was busy. I took the kids to church, came home to put them in bed, and then we spent the afternoon at the pool. And I probably drank one glass of water.

Breakfast Day 28: Eggs scrambled with a little coconut water. Topped
with tomatoes and avocado. Side of fruit.

I almost forgot about lunch this day. It was Sunday and the kids ate at church and I was
a little worn out. So at 2pm I grazed in the fridge on Tuna Salad, boiled eggs and a banana.

Dinner Day 28: Sunday Roast with roasted veggies and a mayo based
horseradish dipping sauce.

Day 29: I woke up feeling awful this day. I managed to load up the kids and head to the grocery store and while I was checking out I regretted it. Weak and achy and a little out of it. I made it home and got the little one down for his nap. Then I did something I never do.. I called for backup and went to bed. I was feeling horrible, but still hungry. I was SO tempted to give it up, grab a gatorade, cook some brown rice and give in. But I stuck with the whole30 food and it made me feel better. But this day is a little disjointed food wise.

Breakfast Day 29: Monkey Salad

After I took myself to bed I ate small quantities of things. A cup of chicken broth,
a banana, some unsweetened apple sauce. Then later almond butter and dates.

A sickbed gift from my husband.

Dinner day 29: My attempt at Whole30 sickness comfort food. Looks gross, huh?
Sweet potato (baked then mashed), chunks of chopped steak (you know, for iron),
and spinach. It looks awful, but was actually good.

Day 30: After refueling with around 150 ounces of electrolyte water, I woke up this day feeling much better and pinpointing that I was definitely dehydrated from the weekend and possibly fighting a cold. My last day was pretty uneventful. More eggs for breakfast (that I forgot to take a pic of) and more tuna salad. Those were easy, reliable things that made this doable.

Lunch Day 30: At work. Tuna salad with green peppers and an apple.

Dinner Day 30: thanks to my husband for being hungry for this. Kale
caesar (minus the parm) with grilled chicken.

More to come. Hopefully tomorrow.

B

Hot & Cold Links to Love

Greetings.

Space Grandma is legit.

 I am spending tonight packing for a three day wedding extravaganza. My challenge for this packing experience (beyond S's killer fashion feedback) is major changes in temp. I am going to experience Minnesota in August, which is pretty much like December in Houston. Don't worry though, I just picked up a new pair of these and I'm bringing a parka. One of those things is true....

I was also a slacker chef and picked up hot and sour soup from the Hunan Hut for dinner. I just didn't have it in me tonight with the packing and a mildly sick husband. It was takeout time. Landy had salmon for dinner with chopped spinach and avocado. I hope her friends wait a really long time to tell her she isn't supposed to like these kinds of things. I will continue to keep my mouth shut. 

So this is the post that you get tonight... THE INTERNET at your fingertips. Actually just some links to some of my favorite recipes online. Before we get to that, I just watched last night's RHONY and they are all crazy. I really thought this season might bring about some normal ones. I'm not going to pretend like I'll ever stop watching, but Aviva's dirty dad, George, should become the next housewife. Squirting orgasms for everyone! (I know, that was sick. Sorry. But not really.)

SO back to recipes. Whew. I am very obsessed with Cooking Light when it comes to following an actual recipe and not cooking on the fly. Here are a few link selections so I can save some for another night when I am lacking wit, creativity, and energy. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts from the Barefoot Contessa

and some Jackie D. just for fun.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples from Cooking Light
I can't explain how fast and easy this is, but the photo from the website says enough. We served with lightly sauteed spinach.

Chicken Tamale Casserole by Cooking Light 

Your life in the kitchen will never be the same.  I make this a lot. I use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream on top (I actually replace most sour cream with Greek yogurt). Addicting.

Buffalo Chicken Thighs by Cooking Light
We made this with boneless thighs because I couldn't find bone in that was skinless and didn't feel like peeling skin, but I actually liked it better. We used Frank's hot Sauce and did regular mashed red potatoes and roasted tomatoes open faced with panko breadcrumbs, salt pepper, and parm in the oven. 

Herb and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breast by Cooking Light
So I made this but changed it up a little. I bought a low fat spreadable herb cheese and chopped some sun dried tomatoes in with the spinach. I still added in the parsley but left out the bread crumbs. The cheese MELTED in it. It was amazing.   

Smoky Slow Cooker Chili by Cooking Light
The limes are genius!  And anything in a slow cooker is ideal.

Ceviche Style Shrimp Tacos by Cooking Light
HAVE to use corn tortillas and if you can do a quick grill on them it's ideal. 

Lastly, if you don't know about Soy Vay, you should.  Their Veri Veri Teriyaki is THE BEST Salmon Marinade and is great on pork as well.  Here's the link.

One of my all time favorite chicken soup recipes is on my short list for next month. It will still be 90 degrees, but September is the start of fall whether you like it or not! Wish me luck packing. This adventure calls for a glass of wine. Or two...

-RT

Surprise! I am actually Kate Middleton

Aren't you kind of shocked? Me too. Just to rehash, this blog is 80% about easy healthy eating. This post falls into the other undefinable 20% that we are gambling on together. So back to me being Kate Middleton. Incidentally, this has nothing to do with the "Prince of our Hearts" YM Magazine I recently found stashed away in my childhood closet. It has to do with the rewearing of fancy dresses. 

I also used up those love tarot cards. Oh, and the 24 clues to snag your crush were a total fail.

We are leaving town yet again for a wedding in Louisville. Weddings are fun when you get to leave town and see people who you don't see often, oh, and also when you are not pregnant and can drink the appropriate amount to really enjoy the wedding and dance you ass off. What I HATE about out of town weddings is packing. This problem is easily solved when it is a wedding for a friend of mine. Usually in these cases I bombard my friends H & L with photos of me trying on dresses and trying to pick out shoes from my limited shoe collection and they help guide me or give me the approval that I am seeking and not getting at home. They both live really far away. Depressing. But they put up with me. That's why they are members of the BFC. 

Best Friends Club. Snuggles forever.

This particular wedding is for one of my husband's friends. So I'm depending on him to help me feel out the tone of the events and my appropriate attire. As much as I wish I could just run to the store and pick out a new dress for every event (and I really REALLY do wish this) I have to buy things like tiny bathing suits and baby Toms in every color (thanks D) so I don't really have the budget. I head to the bedroom and turn into Kate Middleton and prepare to rewear.

Unfortunately I am missing the perfect amount of fancy hats to make my dresses like new.

The first dress I try on is a fuchsia strapless DVF party dress I got for H's wedding 4 years ago. It has a full skirt and pockets and is super comfy. I like to think through my wears. It had one hit with my college group, one hit for NYE with a large group of Houston friends, one hit for a wedding with a different group of Houston friends, and the last group standing is S's college group. I pair it with some shoes and walk into the living room ready for some feedback feeling like this: 

Work it.

Response: "what are you doing?" 

RT: trying to figure out what I'm going to wear to the wedding.

Silence

RT: So? 

"I like that dress."

Ok. What did I expect? He likes it. That's fine.

I head back into the bedroom and find another cocktail dress that I bought for my father's 70th birthday in the midst of my good skinnies before I had a baby and after I did a two day protein fast. It zipped, which was a start, but I knew it was a little tight over my chest. I was feeling a little like this:

I didn't wait for a response. I went for it so I could point it out first.

RT: This one's a little tight on my chest, right?  

"Yeah, it looks kind of weird. Also, the fabric is bunchy. And I can see your stomach and like where your belly button is."

silence

RT: Well in real life I would be wearing Spanx and they would make those two things disappear. 

"Oh"

I felt like this:

Usually I would love to feel like Blake Lively, but this is a fail.

Failure and an unprovoked additional response. I head straight back to my bedroom. Maybe the sisterwives have it all figured out. They get to live with other women for the rest of their lives. They never have to ask their husband for advice on proper attire. They just put on their prairie dress and braid their hair and go to town. But really, I miss living with my girlfriends. When you have an awful night where you feel fat in every outfit, you can pick out something better from their closet. When you don't know if your shoes are too boring (probably) or too matchy matchy, they will tell you. When you have the wrong purse for your outfit, they will pick one out for you. They will also make great getting ready to go out mixes that have oukast and britney on them. They will also drink everclear daqueries at home on a Saturday night with you in sweat pants. Shout out JJ. Best Friends' Club.

I try one last dress on and end up with a major idea. Our friends are getting married in August and they are having a 2pm ceremony and a 5pm reception. I could wear two dresses and have time for two totally different looks. This idea really excites me so I put on what would be my "ceremony look" and head back out to the living room. I felt like this, but in a cute dress:

S: "You know the wedding is outside and it is going to be really hot."

RT: this is for the other wedding. I thought I would do an outfit change and wear this to the ceremony and THEN (big reveal) wear a DIFFERENT dress to the reception. Maybe with different hair? 

S: "Ok"

silence

RT: Doesn't that sound fun? 

S: "Sure, if you want to."

This ended the fashion show. I went back to the bedroom, opened my suitcase and threw in about 6 dress options for Saturday night. I'll have time on Thursday and Friday to snag some of the ladies and get their opinions. Because if I think about putting on another outfit and walking into the living room I imagine it going something like this:

And for the reception, I was thinking an understated pale pink...

Yours as ever in the loyalty of the Queen, 

Kate Middleton

- RT