I woke up this morning with the remains of a dream that wanted to nothing more than indulge in creamy, cheesy food. I began to strategize my off-plan meals, rationing it with the fact that Lent starts on Wednesday and I can begin the program again then and take it out for the full 40 days, and be a good Catholic while I was at it! But the remnants of a dream it was, and as the fantasy faded, the realization that Mardi Gras was yesterday quickly silenced any thought of indulging in food decadence for, well, another 40 days! $#!+
To be honest, the dream was probably a subconscious result of not eating enough yesterday, which means not consuming enough healthy vitamins and nutrients. It also means that I’ll be more hungry today so it will take extra effort not to cheat! But now that I’m near the end of today, I am happy to report that I stayed on plan, and wasn’t as hungry as I thought I would. This day was also a very busy day, similar to yesterday, so being preoccupied by other things was a huge benefit to staying on plan.
Final thought for today’s post: Morning dreams begin, Fading to reality, Cherish both moments.
Day 17 ##3.4 24-hrs: ↓ 1.6 Total: ↓ 20.2
Breakfast: oatmeal w/blueberries, coffee
Lunch: salad, pulled-pork, chicken strips, spinach, apple cider
Dinner: Butter chicken, spaghetti squash, and coconut water
Ding, dong, the plateau is dead! I could keep singing my jubilant song, but I’m sure you see the excitement and seeing the scale move in a downward direction once again! Down almost half a pound—woohoo!
Celebrations aside, today was an “errands” day. I had taken the day off from work because I had to travel to Boston, which is a 2 hour drive each way, so 4 hours in the car, 1 hour in Boston, with plenty of time left over to do all those pesky errands that can’t be done on a weekend. It still took the whole day, so while it was technically a day off, it felt like it was a full work day. Needless to say, it was a busy day and early start day, so no video today.
To wrap this day up, it was a very productive and great day, tied all up in pretty packaging and topped with a red velvet bow!
Day 16 ##5.0 24-hrs: ↓ 0.4 Total: ↓ 18.6
Day 16 Breakfast: coffee (I know, not the best, but I didn’t need the energy boost for a 2-hour car ride)
Ah, the start of a new week and the plateau is hanging on (sneak peek—today is the last plateau day!). Typical for a Monday aye?!? The week begins and this one promises to be a good one. Week 3 is when you begin to see the benefits of the Whole 30: sleep is better, cognition is sharp, energy is up, and the clothes are baggy! All the above is true for me so while the plateau is hanging on for dear life, the universe is not rooting for it.
One of the side-effects of all this, however, is the desire to go cloths shopping as the wardrobe in your current closet (assuming you’re like me and can only keep seasonal cloths in your closet at any given time) is all too big. Not a bad problem to have, but hang on folks because there is more to go and anything you/I buy today will be too big in another two weeks. Search in the back for those belts that stopped fitting about two years ago and use them as the temporary fix, and we’ll (well, ”I” anyhow) go shopping in a few more weeks!
Pains, gains, struggles, etc.? No, not really. I did experience some muscle soreness in my knees, but that was a result of humid weather and a couple skiing accidents a few decades ago! Your situation will probably be different than mine as I’ve been here before as this IS round two for me and I’ve followed this plan a couple of times before, but this is the first time I’m doing multiple rounds back to back with only a few days between.
Any-hoo, it’s a new week and things are looking up!
Day 15 ##5.4 24-hrs: ↓ 0.0 Total: ↓ 18.2
Day 15 Breakfast: oatmeal w/bananas, coffee
Lunch: salad, butter chicken, water
Dinner: Chicken cutlet (almond flour), spaghetti squash, applesauce, and coconut water
It’s been a full 2 weeks now and I’ve stayed on plan 99.9% of the time (E made pizza last night for the very first time so I had to have a small bite—she’s only 10 years old so this was not an option). So while technically I should be starting over, I am going to plow along and will start over at Round 3 after a short break.
The plateau is hanging on something fierce so now I’m convinced it’s a low battery. This scale behavior has happened before where every day the reading stays the same. I’ll give it one more day or two, depending on how ambitious I am, before I swap it out. I can’t complain too much, however, as it uses one of those dime shaped batteries that cost less than a buck and lasts about 18 months.
Made some applesauce today that turned out awesome! I think I have found my new favorite dessert while on this plan. Not much else for the day besides normal house cleaning, paperwork filing, getting tax filings ready, and getting some nice walks in. All in all a nice quiet day.
Day 14 ##5.4 24-hrs: ↓ 0.0 Total: ↓ 18.2
Day 14 Breakfast: oatmeal w/raisins, coffee
Lunch: Salad, 1 Lara bar, water
Dinner: Butter chicken (leftover from last night), on spaghetti squash, applesauce, coconut water, and a tiny piece of Eleanor’s famous homemade pizza 😉
We finally made it to the weekend! This week felt like it would never end. Don’t get me wrong—it was a good week. It was just a good lo-o-o-o-ng week.
The scale saw it’s ups and downs, and then plateau’d somewhere in the middle. So while my anxious self was convinced the battery was failing, my logistic self knew that this was to be expected in the early teen days: the program warns that days 10 to 13 are the bloating days, and here we are at 13. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this coming week the train will be back on the high-speed track.
So not much for this Saturday: Cooked a few new recipes, watched a little Netflix, did a little house hunting (the house was a fail), did a little house cleaning, and created this vlog. An easy-going day!
Day 13 ##5.4 24-hrs: ↓ 0.0 Total: ↓ 18.2
Day 13 Breakfast: oatmeal w/blueberries, coffee
Lunch: apple cider, Lara bar
Dinner: Paleo IP Butter Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
Another snowy day in New England, and in typical New England fashion, it’s beautiful while it’s coming down, and for a few hours after, so we have to enjoy it before the salt trucks muck up the pristine white.
The last two days were both great and tiring. On Day 8 I didn’t get home until just before 8 so that meant a late dinner—the perfect recipe for throwing the next day’s scale reading into the land of confusion and frustration. But knowing this beforehand helps keep me positive and undistracted.
Seriously, not bad. With a little math (Pattie, skip to the next paragraph now), -2.6 + 1.2 = a 2 day loss of 1.4. Yes, applause are in order 😉
But this is the very reason most diet plans tell you not to weigh yourself every day, because the numbers are deceiving and can easily suggest to you that you are failing so just give it up now so that you don’t have to punish yourself each day at weigh-in time. I’m only doing the daily weigh-ins to show how sea-saw-ish it can all be, and to illustrate that the daily numbers will not defeat me! I only give about 5% of the total picture. PLUS, this particular program suggests that this gain is actually expected as the bacteria in your gut actually starts becoming healthier, but there will most likely be a two to three day “bloat” response, and in a few short days your body will adjust to the good bacteria that is needed for a healthy digestive system. This is also the time you will notice your metabolism and digestion adjusting to not relying on sugar, grains, dairy, etc., on doing its job, and that’s a very good thing!
But enough about food. I noticed my productivity level today was much quicker, I was more confident at work (presenting materials and leading meetings), and was actually looking forward to adding more complexity to the products I deliver to enhance the customer experience. Yup! In spite of a 1.2 pound gain, it was an excellent day!
Day 8 ##4.4 24-hrs: ↓ 2.6 Total: ↓ 19.2
Day 9 ##5.6 24-hrs: ↑ 1.2 Total: ↓ 18.0
Day 8 Breakfast: oatmeal w/blueberries, coffee
Lunch: grilled chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, french fries, apple cider
Yay, one week just about done! It’s Sunday, day 7, and that means it’s shopping day. I threw together my meal plan for the week, added all the ingredients to the Grocery app, and off to the grocery stores I went.
Typically I would only hit one store in the winter months (once the weather warms up there’s a few farm stands I like to check out before the supermarket). Stop-and-shop is the closest, and they are pretty good as far as selection goes. But there were a few unusual items on this week’s list so first up was Whole Foods.
Now while I mostly like Whole Foods, they have the worst, rudest customers on the planet! Generalizations aside, most appear to be in the middle of a distance marathon and will literally push you out of their way as they rush through the over-crowded, narrow isles. This is the worst of the “entitled” generation. This particular trip included at least 4 nasty shoppers, one of which tried to take things out of my cart! Dude—really?
I did try a new snack bar today, similar to Lara bars, and it was pretty good! It’s nice to add a new snack item to the list of compliant tasty treats.
My Stop-and-Shop shopping experience was much more pleasant! They had all but 1 item remaining on my list (pastille chile, dried) so I’ll try ordering that through Amazon, or research for a more common chile substitute.
No now that the food shopping for the week is done, I’m excited to get cooking!
Yes, today is “cravings” day. This is to be expected so I’ll just grin and bare it because, as the Whole 30 program states for Days 5 – 7, “This too shall pass.” pheww!
I started off the day with an eggs, banana, and coffee (home brewed this time), and then I was off for an early morning house showing—buying, not selling. The place appeared to be in a good area, stream across the street, forest hillside in the back, but I noticed a cleared section to one side of this new constructed home. The place was beautiful inside, all work appeared to be quality, and the finishing touches were still being added (marble countertops, rugs, etc), but once my agent contacted the seller’s agent, it was discovered that there was construction planned on both sides of the property, and while the front and back offered vast views, the sides were a bit too close for comfort (and the property I was looking at would have to share a driveway with the cleared lot next to it. And so the house hunt continues (sigh!).
Once home, I had all these plans of what I was going to do, but I became emotionally (and perhaps physically) exhausted and all I could manage to do is research on another home I had looked at a few months ago and to see what else was on the market. This easily sucked up a few hours, the shoes slowly were replaced with slippers, a few chores did manage to get done, and I’ve accepted that half of the plans will have to wait until tomorrow.
Day 5 has arrived! Not that long ago, we thought this day was so far away. But here we are and it’s all good. Started off this snowy day with eggs and sausage (didn’t even look at the oatmeal) and the usual coffee for breakfast. My niece was all concerned with wearing all red today as her acknowledgement of Valentines’ Day, so I followed suit and chose a heart-themed shirt. I did not choose the red pants like she did, because it’s casual Friday, jeans day!
Made good time getting to work, and all was going smoothly: the sugar dragon was sleeping, no cravings or hunger to occupy my thoughts, and the scale was especially nice to me this morning. All was good until this happened:
UGG! The Dunkin’s box was full with strawberry and chocolate-covered hearts when I arrived, and the strawberry bunt cake hadn’t arrived yet for my first trip to the tiny kitchen at work. I avoided looking at them on my rushed way through to the copy machine and avoided the temptation! The above picture was snapped after lunch, and I bet that half of what’s left there will be tossed in the trash at day’s end.
To end this Friday, I leave you with vibes of HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
##7.2 24-hrs: ↓ 1.4 Total: ↓ 16.4
Steps: tba
Breakfast: fried eggs, sausage, and a Dunkin’ coffee.
Lunch: Salad topped w/chicken and homemade dressing, and coffee.
Woohoo! It’s Battle the Sugar Dragon day! Yes, folks, day 4 is the day you’re ready to “cheat just a little bit” by indulging in something just a tiny bit sweet. Don’t do it. Just a tiny bit leads to just another tiny bit, and another tiny bit, and before you know it a “tiny bit” becomes half a chocolate pudding cake, or two cream-filled donuts, or [fill in your sweet indulgence of choice and triple a “tiny” bit]. Whatever the cheat, you get the picture. Just. Don’t. Do. It. We made it to Day 4! So grab your armor and choose the fruit instead. I’ll get back tot he Sugar Dragon in just a bit.
As life is not as monotonous as it sometimes seems, this morning I had a doctor’s appointment before work (routine vision exam), so it did throw a few monkey wrenches into my breakfast routine. The good news is no oatmeal for me this morning. The better news is the vision exam was great in terms of no changes or issues spotted. But this meant that my breakfast was delayed by almost 3 hours, so I had plenty of battle time with the beast, and I came out victorious with only a few minor [cravings] cuts and scratches.
It was tempting to just forgo packing something for work and adding an egg and cheese wrap to my normal black coffee Dunkin’ order, but then that would lead to having to find something on plan for lunch, and then no snacks, and I knew I’d be starving by 4pm and would most likely overeat at dinner time. So I settled on, “I’ll at least pack a salad.” Battle #1: Valerie – 1 |Sugar Dragon – 0.
The mere act of packing a salad for lunch then lead to needing salad dressing, then pulling out the raisins and tomatoes to add to the salad, and then quickly throw in a banana, and the grapes I washed last night, add almond milk to the Yeti that Pattie gave me a few years ago, and before I knew it I was all set for the whole day. Battle #2: Valerie – 2 | Sugar Dragon – 0 !
Big Yeti mug with my name on it
The big Yeti, gift from Patti at SteadyCare (SC).
But even with everything packed, I was still tempted once 10am rolled around as I was leaving the Optometrist’s office. Dunkin’s was just two doors down and I could smell the coffee as I walked to my car. Battle #3 began with that sneak attack! I could not run, I could not hide, I was going to meet it face on! Thank GOD for Dunkin’s On-the-Go App. I entered my order using the app, just the coffee while constantly reminding myself “there’s a banana in the lunch bag, there’s a banana in the lunch bag, …” over and over until the order was submitted. Now I only need to pop in, grab my to-go coffee, transfer it to the Yeti, and make a quick exit and I may not even need to speak a word to anyone (but I do always still throw in a “hello” or a “good morning” just to acknowledge the hard work they all do to get my order ready quickly. Success! Battle #3: Valerie – 3 | Sugar Dragon – 0 !
Once at work, the next few hours should be battle free. I’ll have the banana, drink the coffee, and enjoy the grapes. I’ll be eating lunch at my desk instead of the cafeteria today, but forgot to pack a fork so I’m clumsily and slowly eating it with a spoon! Battle #4: Cancelled 😉
Salad with a Spoon
That’s all I have to today. There were no more battles to fight, so the Sugar Dragon slinked away to fight someone else another day!
##7.2 24-hrs: ↓ 1.4 Total: ↓ 16.4
Steps: tba
Breakfast: fried eggs, sausage, and a Dunkin’ coffee.
Lunch: Salad topped w/chicken and homemade dressing, and coffee.
