W30:Day 20&21

It's amazing what a couple of weeks can do! I started this journey absolutely terrified of weekends. And while Friday night started off rough, the rest of the weekend was perfect. With time & preparation, I'm realizing I can do this. Does it mean I don't want pizza or chips & salsa anymore? No way! I'll always crave those things. But there is success & satisfaction found in things other than a greasy meal. 

Saturday

Saturday morning I woke up & decided to go try a high intensity water class my sweet friend teaches. I've done water exercises in the past & loved it, so I knew I would enjoy this class. It was just facing the fear of going that first time. It's in our towns community center & big fitness places like that intimidate me. Will people stare at me because of my size? Will I be able to handle the exercises? Will I be alone? Yada, yada, yada. But knowing my friend & the encouragement she's given me, I knew I would be fine. I chose faith over fear & braved going to the class. And I'm so glad I did. I LOVED IT! I wish all exercise was that fun!

I can home & fixed my breakfast (I ate a handful of almonds before I went. I'm still trying to figure out pre/post-workout food. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out how to workout! Ha!)

After eating & showering we got around & needed to run some errands & grab a few needed items in Little Rock. I went prepared & packed a lunchbox of goodies I knew I could eat. Carrot slices, an apple, turkey slices & almonds. Preparation is key! 

We left the house around noon & the rest of the family hadn't eaten anything & wanted our fave OTB. I've gone there with them twice while on W30 & sat there & not eaten a thing. Not this time. I had eaten a couple hours earlier so I ordered some grilled veggies & a side of guacamole. And stole a piece of the girls' fajita chicken! It was delicious & I was able to eat with my family. Just not the chips & salsa. :/

Since the girls & I are in the run clinic, the leaders highly recommend you do some training on your own on Saturday. It was a cloudy, drizzly day & B encouraged us to pack our shoes & clothes so we could run at this park in Little Rock. So before we left to head back home we changed into our running gear & took off!

B was awesome! He set a timer on his phone and we did a run/walk interval for 45 min. Thirteen rounds of 2:45walk & a :45run. Oh! And even though he hasn't ran in forever, he participated. And that guy is FAST! I was blown away! Now, he's a little sore today, but I was all kinds of impressed. Me? I'm slow. But I'm trying. 

Once back to the car I knew I needed to eat. 1. Always need a post workout snack. And 2. I didn't have a true lunch & needed something. So I grabbed my carrot slices & two slices of turkey from the lunchbox I packed. Yay for being prepared! 

We stopped at Fresh Market & Whole Foods for groceries before heading home & man, what a day!! I heated up some spaghetti squash & meatballs, took a shower & went to bed to relax & watch a movie with B. 

It was a good day. 

Sunday

Another great day! Church, good food choices, rest & even a little exercise. 

Breakfast

After breakfast I went to finish getting ready for church & grabbed a shirt that had gotten a wee bit too tight (ok, a lot too tight). Y'all. I slipped it right on & it FIT! I love this shirt because it has a fun cape in the back & I was so excited to get my cape shirt back! Yay for a non scale victory!

Lunch

Oh boy was I excited about this! I put the roast, potatoes, & carrots in the crock pot & when we got home from church it was ready for us. A compliant meal we could eat as a family. I made myself some broccoli so I could have some greens. So good! And there's leftovers! Yummy!

I'll be honest though. When I pulled these out of the oven for B & the girls, I about died. These rolls smelled heavenly. 

After a two hour nap we got busy & put Christmas (& fall decor!) back into the attic & went to the town pond that has a walking track & did a few laps before the sun started setting & then headed home for dinner.

Dinner

After the big lunch, I wasn't crazy hungry. Turkey, apple & almond butter for the win. 

Wow. Busy, productive weekend. I only have one more weekend left of my first W30 adventure! WooHoo!! The end is near! 

How I am feeling...

Mentally: I feel strong today. The success of this weekend was just what my mind needed. To prove I can do it. 

Physically: Great! Feeling stronger already!

Craving: I woke up from my nap with a STRONG craving for chocolate chip cookies. Oh man. The dough, fresh out of the oven...I want a dozen of them right now!! 

W30:Day 19

I'm tired of food. 

I'm tired of thinking about food. 

I'm tired of making my family revolve around me. 

I'm tired of not being able to go & enjoy a meal without completely analyzing each stinking ingredient. 

I'm tired of this obsession. 

Tomorrow is Day 20. The end is near. But really the end is just the beginning. I'm not going to overthink things these last few days... Enjoy the food I have... Thank God for providing it & giving me a body that can move... Dwell on how good I feel (& sleep!)... And press on!

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

How I am feeling...

Mentally: Wiped out

Physically: Great

Craving: Nothing today

***Tried posting this on the actual day, just saw it never posted. Man. That was a rough night! Glad it's over!!***

W30:Day 17&18

Oops! Have some catching up to do. Here's what I'm realizing. When I'm ready for bed, I'm CRASHING. I barely lay my head on my pillow & I'm OUT. And I don't move or wake up until my alarm goes off. Deep sleep all night long & it's wonderful. Last night I crawled into bed & within seconds was dozing off. I remembered I needed to blog but was already too gone. Ha! Whole 30 sleep is amazing. Seriously. Try it just for the sleep. 

On to food!

Day 17

Breakfast

Lunch

Leftover mayo-less chicken salad. Oh. And I had an apple.

Dinner

Jalapeño chicken burger, potatoes, asparagus 

Day 18

Breakfast 

I prefer my frittata on the crunchy side. Ha! The toaster oven makes heating it up each day super yummy. 

Lunch

So. Stinking. Good. I devoured this today. 

Dinner

Italian night!! Delicious! Homemade meatballs & marinara sauce on spaghetti squash.  

Ok. The meatballs & marinara rocked my W30 world. So. Good. And thanks to my friend Misty I FINALLY managed to cook spaghetti squash right. Oven at 375, drizzle of olive oil in the pan, squash flesh side down, 40 minutes. Perfection. Not soggy like the previous three times I've tried to cook it. Ha! 

And that's it. I'm finishing this up in bed & I'm already fading. My eyes are super heavy. And it's only 10 o'clock. Haha! 

Oh wait! Run clinic was tonight. We did 2.5 miles in the rain. I really love running in the rain! I'm gonna be so sad when it's sunny & hot. I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's cloudy, rainy run! 

Pre-run selfie. In B's old OU hat because I don't have proper running gear. It worked! ;) 

How I am feeling:

Mentally: Today was good. It really helps when the food is emotionally satisfying. I know it shouldn't be that way, but when I thoroughly enjoy every meal instead of just being "ehh" about it, it makes things so much better. And makes me think I can do this!

Physically: Great! Is it sleep time yet?! ;) 

Craving: Ok. This is weird. I'm not having deep, hard cravings like I thought I would. I thought I'd be dying for pizza or something, but the past couple days it's just been weird random things that hit me. Today? Easter sixlets & my ARBFF Anne's cheesecake. Again, I'm satisfied, so I guess that's helping things? Obviously I'm still wanting sugar! Haha!

W30:Day 16

Another day down! The struggles have been real today. Crunchy Cheetos, macaroni & cheese, oatmeal cookies... they've all been temptations. Is it so bad to want to grab junk food & sit & veg? Yes, it is and it's got me in this mess, but I miss snacking! I'm ready to go to bed & begin a new day! 

Breakfast

Lunch

Romaine, thinly sliced chicken breast, compliant bacon, & mustard. 

Dinner

Mayo-less chicken salad - chicken chunks, celery, red grapes, toasted pecans, avocado, & lemon juice.

How I am feeling:

Mentally: Worn out

Physically: Tired

Craving: Junk food 

W30:Day 15

Did you catch that title? Day 15!!!! That is the halfway point!! Oh. My. Gosh. I might survive. No, I WILL survive!! I can't think long term right now or I'll have a panic attack. But for now I'll celebrate the halfway point of this first milestone. So yay for sticking with it this long! It has not been easy, but I'm so glad I'm doing this. 

On day 1 I took "before" pictures. (Some I'll share & some for my eyes only. Ha!) I was telling a friend tonight I don't know how many rounds of before pics I have taken. She is confident this will be the last before pic I take. I hope she's right! As much as I hated doing it, I knew I would want them down the road. I'm a visual person, remember? Today I took halfway pics because to just look in the mirror I can't see a change. But when I compared the pictures today, I can see that things are beginning to change. That's encouraging!

Same shirt. Same jeans. I bought this shirt months ago on clearance, hoping it'd fit. Obviously it didn't. I thought "I'll get into by Christmas." That didn't happen so I hoped for Valentines Day. Nope. But now it is getting close. Maybe by the end of this first 30 days?! 

Up until now I have been soley focusing on food. I haven't tried to overwhelm myself with food choices & an exercise routine. But tonight was the first official night of running at the run clinic & hopefully I can develop a rhythm in exercising to add to the new food habits. 

It was a rainy, cold mess out there tonight. But with these ladies it was fun!! This is the beginner runner group A & our routine tonight was walk three minutes, run 30 seconds for a total of 2.77miles. Very doable, yet also noticed, umm, I'm all kinds of out of shape. :/

The girls have a good friend in our group & I love this action shot she took. Running with friends makes things more fun. 

I'm excited to see more changes in the next 15 days, both mentally & physically. Sure I came home from run clinic cravings carbs (hot sourdough bread & butter, PLEASE!) & cheese (a grilled cheese sounds DELISH!), but I stayed focused. Ready for tomorrow & begin the downhill slide of this first Whole30 adventure. 

On to the food! (I haven't been to the store this week & I've been getting creative. Used the last of a few things, so a trip to restock is coming soon. I hope to find some new recipes to try out. 

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

How I am feeling...

Mentally: Better today. But ONLY if I focus on the task at hand. If I think too far ahead of me or how much work I have to do, I get defeated fast. 

Physically: Really good. Appetite is back, no headaches, sleeping well. I was a little tired today, but that could be thanks to the time change too. Feels great to have gotten out & used my body tonight. 

Craving: Carbs & cheese. And French fries from Big Orange with Bob sauce. And cheesecake because B is in San Antonio & ate at the Cheesecake Factory & I could definitely put away a slice banana cheesecake right now! 

W30:Day 14

Another weekend is behind us & I'm happy to say I survived! Can I get a Woot,woot?! 

After church this morning we planned to drive an hour and a half to meet one of my sweet college girls & her family for lunch & then on to look at her wedding site. I also managed to grab the maid of honor & we surprised the bride & it was just lots of fun! 

I knew I needed to fuel up for the day, so I choked down some eggs this morning. I'm not much of a scrambled eggs person, but I managed. 

Breakfast

Then it was down the road & headed to meet the bride & groom -- at Cracker Barrel!! Eek! Oh the temptation!

Gimme those rolls with lots of butter! 

I resisted & ordered the best, most compliant meal I could. I was even "that customer" & asked how things were prepared, please leave off the butter & cinnamon-sugar, etc...

Lunch

It was really good & totally worth it to see these faces! 

The day went on & we had errands to run in Little Rock on the way home & the next thing you know it was dinner time. B wanted OTB, but offered other possibly more compliant places, but I wasn't so sure about eating out twice in one day. (Umm...what?! I used to live for that!) I tried to order something at OTB, being "that customer" again, but I didn't feel right about it. So I sat at OTB again and didn't eat a morsel. It wasn't as bad tonight, but still not fun or easy. 

By the time we got home & things settled down, I wasn't up for a big meal. So turkey slices at 9:30 it was! Hey, not ideal, but it'll just have to work. 

Dinner

I'm proud I made it through the day. I found a way to navigate through life outside the comfort of my own house. I know that will always be a process & something I'll constantly be working on if I want to be successful. 

On another, more positive note, I had three people mention to me they see a change in my physical appearance. Already on day 14! That's just craziness to me because I do not see it at all. But I'm definitely not going to argue with anyone! I'll just keep pressing on!

How I am feeling...

Mentally: Much better today. Thankful to have survived. Hopeful after hearing positive feedback. 

Physically: Really good!

Craving: OTB chips, salsa, & queso, Monterey ranch chicken fajitas, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. And I'll take a coke while I'm at it. ;) 

W30:Day 13

I used to live for the weekends. On the Border! Fun treats! Big Orange! Desserts! But during this W30 journey, I've come to dread the weekends. Last weekend was fear I would fail. (I didn't!) This weekend I just feel kind of numb. It's almost as if I defined fun with food. And that's sad. 

Today was an off day. I woke up ready to conquer another Saturday, started the day off right, & then I just felt blah all day. Not sure if it's my body going through stuff or what, but there was no energy today. And no appetite either. So weird. So I guess I survived another Saturday, but mainly because I just stayed in my bed or on the couch. Sigh...

Breakfast

Look at that! I started off on such a positive note! Not sure what happened after that! 

Lunch

No picture. I had three clementines.  

Dinner

I heated up the last of the enchilada bake & choked down a few bites. Then I ate the grapes. Food just didn't sound good after breakfast. I sent B & the girls out to go eat a good dinner because I had nothing. Ha!

How I am feeling...

Mentally: Tired

Physically: Felt queazy most of the day, but feeling better tonight. Super tired. 

Craving: Nothing