Things That Scare Me

 

I actually do not think scare me is the right words… things I fear might be better!

I think I accidently on purpose signed up for a fitness boot camp today. A 6 week, three times a week, 1 ½ hour per session boot camp.

THIS SCARES ME! And I don’t know if it is because I do not want to appear as out of shape as I am OR if I am legitimately afraid I can’t do it.

I also do not even know if I am accepted into the program yet, so I really shouldn’t be anxious about it yet.

This is the next step in the year of me…. The year of getting my happiness back… The year of getting healthy… and hopefully staying healthy!

 

Food

Sometimes I feel like all I do is cook! But it has been such a blessing eating healthy and prepack food. Last week one of my employees called in sick and it was a RUSH to get out the door. If I had not had my food prepacked… I would have been in trouble. The extra time, work, and energy to be prepared really pays off.

Being with friends this weekend I did not prepack food. I instead threw a quick meal together of broccoli slaw, pineapple, spicy chicken sausage, garlic, and some coconut aminos at their home (while I made acorn squash covered in butter and brown sugar for Uncle Les). I think my “niece” and her boyfriend were shocked the healthy food could taste good too.

I also made lettuce cups with ground chicken, garlic, ginger, onions, water chestnuts and a sauce made from rice vinegar, coconut aminos, almond butter, sesame oil and chili sauce. I topped it with cilantro… because I love cilantro… and scooped it in Boston Lettuce cups.

Lately I have been craving pesto sauce. Most pesto sauce in the store has Parmesan cheese in it. Yesterday I took Paula grocery shopping and could not find basil. Today I went back to the store… to many stores… Carpinitos, Nature’s Market, Fred Meyer’s, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe’s. I was starting to think satisfying this craving was not worth the effort. Thank goodness Trader Joe’s delivered (And thank you Leslie for suggesting it!)

In my ninja I put a 4oz package of fresh basil (stems removed), 1/2 cup pine nuts, lemon juice from one lemon, a squirt of minced garlic, and some olive oil… and a little cilantro (because as I have already mentioned… I ❤️ it!). It tastes so good! I also baked a spaghetti squash, mixed 1/3 of the pesto sauce with it and topped it with fried chicken and pine nuts. My Chicken was easy to make and tasted pretty good… Paula will agree! I mixed 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard and mixed it well. I twice dipped my chicken in the egg mixture and a mixture of coconut flour, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, paprika, sea salt and garlic powder and browned it in the wok with a little olive oil. I then finished it off on the George Foreman Grill. Because I will be staying at Tracy’s house tomorrow night, I packed two days worth of lunch and dinner… and a chopped RX Bar for Thursday morning.

Downside to all this cooking… I still have to finish the dishes…and clean the kitchen…

Finding Humor

Just wanted to share a photo of dear Bob. He is such a loving and trusting dog and after this, I am not sure why he loves me so much.

I had a great laugh with Emese, my health coach, this week. I am finding it hard to get up or stay late to get my physical fitness in. I know this is something I need to get on because eating healthy will only take me so far. And our laughing was over something so silly. We have been talking about doing things on the go… like pushups on the wall, or lunges in the hall…. or squats in the shower. We have all done it, right? I sometimes feel like in the shower is the perfect time for my squats. What made us laugh is the shampoo and conditioner bottle weights I have been using. I am so grateful my roommate sleeps through me dropping them… at least I hope she does…. some mornings I have butter fingers (maybe I should call them soap fingers) and drop them multiple times… oops.

Fall

I have been absent in my blogging for a few days. Not many people know this nor do I speak of it very often, but I have severe anxiety. I have had a very anxiety filled week. I really do not have a reason. I am not under extreme stress, but my mind sometimes plays tricks on me like it has this week. This past week I have just wanted to lay in bed and be all by myself. I have just wanted to isolate myself. It is a fight sometimes to get out the door on days I am not working because being around people makes me anxious.

This past week I did spend some time with my other family… IN A LARGE CROWD… on a day off and was okay. I fought through it and although I was only at the pumpkin patch for a short time, I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that I could walk the long distance to and from the car in heeled boots and my feet never hurt. That is what I call a Whole30 non scale victory. The lack of joint pain is reason enough to eat healthy!

I love fall! I love boots and sweaters and the decorations. I especially love the front doors at work right now! They make me happy… and the hay everywhere doesn’t give me anxiety!

Schedules

I am the first to switch my work schedule for others. I feel if I do, when I really need someone to fill in for me, they will… at least I hope it happens. Not having my regularly scheduled days off really throws off my groove sometimes. It means I have to do most of my cooking for the week Friday after I get home. To make matters worse, I left Kirkland at 7:45 and because of an accident I didn’t get home until  after 9:00…. Soup is in the crockpot and half of one dish is made, but it is almost 11pm now. It is so much easier to get it all done and not worry about waking up the next day for work. But, I am dedicated to this new lifestyle and will do it if I must.

I did try the pumpkin RX Bar today. So good!

Checklists

I am very much of a note-taking, pen-hoarding, checklist kind of gal. I love marking things off a checklist… so much so that I will write things on my list at the store just to cross it off. Ridiculous, huh?

I have been really good at recording and journaling my food the past 30 days (missing maybe 2 or 3 days). I wanted a creative, colorful, and fun way to record the next phase of my get health journey. I created the above stickers to allow myself to check things off. So far I love them.

Something else I love? My water flosser. I am not the most religious flosser. My coworker suggested ordering a water flosser (as I was sending her office supply recommendations). I use it 1-2 times daily and floss maybe 4 times a week with dental floss. I sometimes add mouthwash to the water flosser and was laughing at myself tonight and I looked in the mirror upon completion…

Update

My health coach posted a very fitting article on her blog today that reminded me of an experience I had last week. The directors I work with went out to dinner to one of my absolutely favorite restaurants, The Cactus. On day 27 I was plagued the whole day with the biggest temptation I have had thus far. At this point I knew I could survive eating right for another 30 days if I allowed myself to order my favorite dish and snacked on chips and salsa. I could just start over and be able to enjoy my Chicken Fried Chicken. That morning I woke up and looked at the menu and found an alternative… but still thought about cheating. At lunch I looked at the menu again, and settled on a different alternative…. but still thought about cheating. The drive down I argued with myself… the walk to the restaurant I argued more. As I sat at the table I argued a little more until the waiter came up and asked what I would like to drink. This was the point I decided I made a commitment to myself and others and I needed to stick by it.

Instead of chips and salsa, I had sliced vegetables with guacamole and salsa.

Instead of chicken fried chicken I had this mess of grilled chicken, vegetables and a portobello mushroom. I am sure the waiter thought I was annoying as I asked him the ingredients in everything but I knew he understood because when I ordered my water in the beginning, he told me about how carefully he was trying to eat and how he was also not allowed dairy or sugar.

You know what really made it easy? Being able to text my health coach. Having that extra support makes a big difference. And I knew I was not alone because she was in Las Vegas saying “No!” to a buffet of desserts.

To see Emese’s vacation eating article, click below.

https://www.livelifehealthy.me/single-post/2017/10/03/Eating-on-VacationPlanned-LapseLOVE-for-Las-Vegas

Now for some delicious meals I have had lately:

I went to MANY stores to find ground chorizo that was compliant. Before I did, I found chorizo sausages from Whole Foods. This dish was beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips sautéed in a little olive oil with lots of garlic. It was a great balance of sweet and spicy.

Tonight I retried to make coconut chicken. I chopped up one chicken breast, tossed it with coconut flour, chili powder, ground ginger, and sea salt, dipped it in a beaten egg, and rolled it in unsweetened coconut (a smaller grated coconut than I tried a couple weeks ago). Fried in a little olive oil until cooked… it really hit the spot. I put it on top of a cauliflower stir fry (cauliflower rice, red onions, green peppers, grated carrots, pineapple, garlic, coconut aminos, and sesame oil).

Now to come full circle. My Chicken Fried Chicken from Cactus is a breaded Chicken on top of mashed potatoes and a chorizo gravy. Using this coconut chicken recipe and changing up the spices to give it more of a Spanish flair, I can see making my own Chicken Fried Chicken Whole 30 compliant.

Moral of the story: Patience makes way for rewards later.

I can not wait to taste the reward of my own Chicken Fried Chicken…. that will probably taste better but also BE better for me.

Day 31

Today is day 31 of my Whole 30 journey. I thought a lot about what life after Whole 30 would be like. Do I feel I have completely mastered my cravings? Am I ready to add things back into my diet? I thought a lot about it… A LOT…. how nice it would be to eat some of the things I really want. That is when I noticed my thoughts were not where I feel they should be. So, for now, I continue on Whole 30. 

I did weigh myself and am very proud to announce I am down 17 pounds! SEVENTEEN POUNDS!! All from just changing my diet. These next 30 days I really want to focus on fitness. This  is almost 20% of my weight loss goal!!

Go Seahawks!

I have noticed cravings arrive based on activities or memories. 

This morning listening to conference I was craving my mom’s cinnamon rolls and (of course) jelly beans. Watching football I am craving all sorts of things… pizza, wings, pancit, Doritos casserole…. something needed to be done. 

This was my football food solution:

Grilled Sweet Potatoes topped with guacamole, hard boiled eggs, red onions, green peppers and paleo bacon. Satisfied my desire for something tasty today!