Day 24

Today was a grumpy kind of day.
I just felt a little bit off and even simple tasks were a struggle.

I had an apple with almond butter while I got settled in at the office for the day.

I later had some raspberries while I sorted an order of promo items that came in yesterday.
The day was super busy and I kept getting distracted... and I wasn't really feeling food for some reason.

So I never had lunch.

When I got home, I finally started to feel a little hungry.
I had a slice of turkey while I decided and eventually made something to eat.

After settling down on the couch, my grumpiness calmed down a tiny bit.

I talked to my sister and my best friend - their words cheered me up and gave me a chance to talk it out.

I guess you just have those days sometimes... but at least I didn't try to bury my emotions in ice cream or junk food.
That's a success.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Let's consider Day 24 a little cranky.

Day 23

One. Week. Left.

I can't believe that next week, I will have accomplished something I didn't think I was strong enough to do.
I felt so powerless and out of control.

But by the grace of God, something clicked in my mind.
I guess it was time.

I still notice some bad habits that come up every now and then (like the desire to eat just because and snacking too close to bed time)
But, I'm at least eating things that are better for my body.

Today went rather smoothly, despite two situations that would have normally thrown me off.

At work, we did a team building activity that culminated in team lunch... at Chipotle.

My goodness I love Chipotle.
Usually, I would get a salad bowl - sounds healthy right?
But I would add meat... and rice... and cheese... and sour cream... plus tortilla chips on the side, duh!

I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do.
(I'm still a little bit apprehensive about some vegetable combinations. Salsa being one of them)

But I went out on a limb and formulated a Whole30 approved lunch.

A salad bowl with lettuce, carnitas, fajita vegetables, and fresh tomato salsa.

I wasn't a huge fan of their use of red onions (I don't think I will ever truly like onions), but the salad was tasty overall.
I didn't even eat it all.

The good choices - plus my teammates saying how much of a difference they could already see in me from my incomplete Whole 30 experience - made me feel great.

The next challenge came after work.

I had been invited to a Cinco de Mayo party for the ladies at my church.
Basically a Mexican food fest... which I was 99.9% sure wouldn't offer too many (if any) options for me.

So, I swung by my apartment and made a quick dinner.
Salad topped with avocado, Tuscan herb olive oil, and left over shrimp and bay scallops from last night.

Then I hopped in the car and headed off to temptation central.
The food smelled amazing...the rice, the meat, the cheese, the tortillas.
But like my other experiences with bad food overload, I entertained a brief moment of self pity... then sucked it up.

I spotted some fruit and got a small bowl.
To my disappointment, though, the first piece of strawberry confirmed that the lovely fruit salad had been tossed with sugar. A lot of sugar.

I nonchalantly pushed my bowl aside and convinced myself I was perfectly content with just a glass of unsweetened iced tea.

The ladies surrounding me questioned my lack of food and I happily explained why I wasn't joining everyone else in the food fest.
They were all very understanding and I didn't feel guilty for refusing.

When desserts were served, I had to politely decline offers of cake and other goodies.
Not my favorite to refuse people, but I'm not about to consciously make a poor choice on Day 23!

Without the focus on food, I completely enjoyed great conversations and fellowship with wonderful women that I hadn't had the chance to meet yet.

There is so much more in life to enjoy than eating. Like the encouragement and company of wonderful teammates and friends.

Let's consider Day 23 socially uplifting.

Day 22

Today was a pretty busy day.

I got up and headed to church.
Today was Communion Sunday... pretty sure the bread and grape juice were not Whole30 approved, but it's communion for goodness sake.
I am not about to sacrifice that just for the sake of not consuming a few grams of sugar.

After the service, there was a bridal shower at the church for one of my friends.

Holy cupcakes and cookies Batman.

So much food... all around me.
And I wanted it.
For some reason, the turkey subs from Firehouse were the things I wanted most - the bread really got to me.

But, I was good.
I had a plate full of fruits and veggies along with some cashews I smuggled in.

The shower was lovely, everyone had a good time, and I made it out of there Whole30 intact.

From the church, I headed straight to Trader Joe's and Giant Eagle for the week's grocery shopping.
I meandered through the aisles and finally headed home, trunk loaded with bags.

For dinner, I decided to put a little bit of effort into cooking.

Green beans tossed in a bacon vinaigrette dressing with bay scallops and shrimp sauteed  with garlic, salt and pepper.

(I do love seafood)

Following dinner, I made a quick trip to Walmart before settling in for the night with one of my new books... I really can't believe the weekend is over and Monday is tomorrow.

Let's consider Day 22 a whirlwind.

Day 21

Over 2/3rds of the way there!!!!!

Whooohooo!

I'm super excited about reaching Day 30... I've always been very goal driven, so I'm all pumped up.
And the days have flown by so fast. I now only have single digit numbers of days left!

Today, I slept away most of the day - I love "Sleep in Saturdays" more than I should.

After a quick breakfast/lunch and watching Secretariat, I headed out for the afternoon.

Shopping time!

I hit the mall looking for bridal shower gifts for a friend.
I wandered from store to store, found what I needed, and also made a few purchases for myself.

Books. My favorite thing.
Growing up, my parents would never say no to books.
And I think I'm going to use that mentality in this situation.

Instead of never saying no to food and using that as a reward system, I want to find things that I enjoy and are good for me.
Books/reading challenge the mind and the imagination - which is a much better investment than fat-filled food that challenges the scale and the stretch of your jeans.

My last stop on my shopping spree was the bookstore.
Barnes & Noble to be exact... which happens to have a Starbucks inside.

I do love Starbucks. That combined with the fact that I hadn't had anything to drink for hours made me wonder if - perhaps - Starbucks has something Whole30 approved.

Thanks to Google, Starbucks received my patronage once again.

Unsweetened passion iced tea.

I had tried it before and wasn't a huge fan of it without a few packets of sweetener.
BUT the fact that I have not had added sugar and have completely changed my eating, I thought it was awesome this time around!

Not to mention the fact that a venti is half the price of a grande sized latte that I would normally get.

Good for the tummy and great for the wallet.

So I sipped on that as I wandered through the store, found what I needed, and headed on home.

The day had gone by so fast and I still needed to make dinner.

Say hello to my delicious dinner.

Sweet potato - sliced thin with coconut oil, salt, pepper, and onion powder; roasted in the oven.
Burger - topped with sliced avocado and bacon crumbles.

Who needs the bun, right?

My taste buds were happy and my tummy is content.

So now its time to settle into bed... maybe read one of my new books.

Let's consider Day 21 rounding the home stretch.

Day 20

So, I'm a little behind on the blog schedule for yesterday... so I'm just going to pretend like it's still late last night when I finally got home from a work event.

Day 20 was a little bit of a challenge.

Breakfast and lunch were normal - but I had to work a baseball game in the evening and had to leave straight from the office.

So, I just had some deli meat and an apple for dinner as I headed out to the game.

Baseball games.
AKA the land of quintessential American ballpark food.

And this event was hosted by one of our sponsors... in a suite... with food everywhere.

Now, I have been lucky enough to attend many games in suites, and I've always looked forward to and overindulged in the delicious spread of snacks.

Ballpark nachos with that fake cheese sauce - for some reason, that is my culinary sports fan weakness.

So being surrounded by all of this and everyone else eating it was pretty tough.
I was smart enough to bring my own snacks... trail mix and a Lara bar.

When I started feeling hungry (and a little sorry for myself) I pulled out the Lara bar.
Luckily, that did the trick and I made it through the evening without giving in.

When I finally arrived home from a very long and exhausting day, I grabbed a handful of cashews, decompressed, and then headed off to bed.

No alarm clock for the next morning hopefully will allow my body to get caught up on some much needed rest.

Let's consider Day 20 a passed test.

Day 19

Nothing too exciting happened today.

I did manage to forget about breakfast (I usually eat something while I get settled at my desk for the day)
But this morning, I just kept getting distracted.

A phone call here... an email there... running out to the bank.

Finally I remembered the whole eating thing and headed to the kitchen to make lunch.
A yummy salad which I enjoyed while I finally took a break from the craziness.

After work, I ran home real quick, grab something to eat, then headed out the door for youth group.

I resisted the buttered popcorn that made its way around the room in a giant red bowl - the delicious aroma hit my nose... and I did genuinely miss popcorn for a moment.

But I got over it and passed the bowl along, settling for a glass of water.

Eventually, I headed home, grabbed a snack, and am now blogging.

I need to get on on a good sleep schedule, so hopefully this weekend I will catch up and get back on track.

All in all though, it has been a pretty good day.

Let's consider Day 19 uneventful. 

Day 18

Busy, busy, busy!
I think I'm finally getting caught up... and hopefully that will give me more energy.

Eating went ok today.

A Lara bar for breakfast... a salad with turkey for lunch.

A teammate from out of town wanted to have dinner, so we headed to a restaurant after work.
She was very interested in my Whole30 experience (a lot of people in our organization actually eat paleo)

We both ended up having salads topped with avocado, bacon, and lobster.
The food was tasty and the company was awesome. I always love spending time with work friends - I work with some amazing people.

When I finally got home, I was feeling a little hungry (the salad wasn't super filling)
But I overdid it with the snacking and was just eating to eat because I was tired.

I'm still going strong on Whole30 choices, but I need to be stronger when I'm feeling tired and worn out.
Eating will not make me feel better... a good nights sleep, maybe... or some yoga for relaxation.

So, I will try to redirect my mind (even when my brain is worn out) to use other resources besides food to deal with low energy levels and stress.

Let's consider Day 18 a refocusing.