Day 15, 16, 17

Day 15 and 16 are kind of a blur. I got little sleep. I prepped. I thought I had a cold which is actually allergies. I had little time to do much of anything than take care of a sick baby, prepare my food, and and eat it. 

So here I am on day 17 feeling great due to some much needed Claritin and Derek taking a til midnight shift with Lil and I going to bed somewhere between 8 and 9. he probably isn't fond of this scenario, but it seems fair to me. Six solid hours for him and 3-4 solid hours with a few hours collectivley sprinkled in the second half of the night. I went for a trip to the mall on my break to return two shirts that I will never where. I felt good. I felt incredible actually. Loads of confidence. Walking tall. I think people could feel it. I got looks. From men and women. I smiled. I bought a size large shirt. Not XL. LARGE. Yea. And it fits beautifully. I am starting to see who I could be. The healthy version of myself emerging. I am wearing a belt again on my pants because they don't stay up on their own anymore and when I sit down it doesn't hurt. The belt doesn't press into my guts making them hurt. This is amazing. This non-bloated alive version of me is AMAZING and I still have almost two more full weeks of this. I hope this feeling lasts. I hope it lasts longer. I am ready to shift my eating for a lifetime. I am ready. 

Switching gears, Lil is 9 months old today. Where did the time go? She does this adorable nose scrunch and breaths in and out really quickly while smiling and it cracks me up. She talks in tongue. La-laing it against her teeth make songs. She is feisty and hates getting dressed and diaper changes. She prefers the nude. She opens and closes doors. She is mesmerized by traffic and other moving things. She smiles at strangers when their own lips turn at the corners and if someone gets too close she buries her face in the crook of my neck still giving a cheeky grin.  She still cuddles with me and cries out in the middle of the night to make sure I'm there. I scoop her up and hold her close and we both sleep until the next time she wakes. She has been here on this earth for about the same amount of time as she was growing inside me. She is amazing. She is only 9 months old. 

Day 10

Stayed home with the Little Lady today. She has a low grade fever (101.5). Its Fifths disease or her top teeth coming in. Who knows. Either way we'll be riding it out. I did notice that I had no guilt about staying home with here. Normally if I were the one not feeling well I would have toughed it out and gone to work. There was no question whether or not I would stay home with her. Even though she didn't feel good, I sure did love all the extra cuddles I got today. I love so mush just being in that moment and soaking it in. Nothing like being needed.

After breakfast we went for a walk to Walgreens to get some more baby Tylenol just in case. I noticed that I felt much taller and stronger on our short walk. I haven't really been doing any other form of exercise. Not that I struggled walking before, it just seemed easier. 

I have a confession to make. I broke a rule. I weighed myself. Better than eating non-compliant, but I don't feel bad about it either. I've already forgotten what the scale said, but it was in the 220's and that is good news to me. Today is the first day that I've physically noticed a change. I'm in-between sizes right now which sucks because all my pants are falling down, but the next size down gives me a muffin top, not so cute.

Food:

Breakfast: One and a half hard boiled eggs (Lil had the other half) with sweet potato hash and ground turkey. 

Lunch: Chicken thighs on salad with a vinaigrette. Simple and easy. Served its purpose. 

 

Dinner: Bacon wrapped meatloaf, oven roasted carrots, and green beans. Purdy, ain't she? Delicious too. A little dry because I was so worried about getting some good crispness to the bacon. We devoured the carrots too. None for Lil for tomorrow night. Sorry babe.

Feeling: It was hard being home alone today with Lil. I certainly had moments where I thought about digging a spoon into the carton of ice cream knowing no one would know but me. But it just wasn't worth it. I feel good. Why waste all this effort?

Day 6

Woke up feeling pretty good again even though we had another night of very interrupted sleep. Worse than the night before. Around 11 or so my eyes started getting sleepy, but my mind still felt on top of it. Digestion is off too. Not sure what to make of it. I've been putting clove oil on the inside of my cheek to aid in the pain relief and hoping it will hurry up and heal. It's more of a nuisance than anything, but I must be re-aggravating it in my sleep.

I'm behind on my menu planning  this week and forgot my food bible at home today. Hopefully I'll have everything wrapped up this evening. 

I need to start incorporating exercise again. The nights bring the crisp autumn air, great for running. That, and I discovered I'm starting to get "mom ass." You know the one. Squats it is.

credit

After last nights dinner I realize I am am getting really good at making homemade dressings, something that I always use to not be great at. Okay. I sucked at it. Might throw out a few bottles now that I have some good flavor profiles in my pocket. 

Food Recap

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs, a sliced cucumber in apple cider vinegar, melon, and of course my coconut coffee.

Lunch: Leftover chocolate chili over baby spinach w/half an avocado, and some leftover brocolli slaw salad sans chicken (mmmmm...soggy lettuce).

Dinner: MMMMM... coconut curry with peppers, onions, spinach, and chicken over cauliflower rice. The picture does not come close to doing it justice..never said I was a photographer.

Derek: Is this couscous or quinoa?
Me: Neither. I'm not allowed to have any grains.
Derek: What is it?
Me: Cauliflower.
Derek: Fooled me.

The meal was a definite hit. My cooking skills have always been good, but I've been branching out into uncharted spice territory while on this Whole30 and they have improved greatly. Maybe it's the confidence? Who knows.

Eyes are getting heavy and its just past 8pm. Still feeling really good physically and mentally. Tomorrow will be the end of my first week and I am greatly surprised at how easy this week has gone. It really is all about planning.

Thought- Is Lil a crappy sleeper because I tell everyone that she sucks at sleeping? Power of positive thinking?

Day 5

Even though my little Lady only let me have one chunk of fours hours of sleep and some 20 minutes to an hour here and there throughout the night, I woke feeling really mentally rested. I feel very clear. My eyes still feel a bit tired, but my body feels great. No lower back discomfort. No headache. I wasn't anticipating feeling good this early in the program. From what I've read days 1-7 are tough and my body would still be adjusting at this time.

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs, tomato basil salad in olive oil, and melon

Lunch: Chicken breast, kalamatta olives, carrots & peppers with ranch for dipping

Snack: Handful of toasted coconut with slivered almonds. This 2 hours after my lunch...I might have confused this with thirst, or I didn't have enough protein.

Dinner: Broccoli and cabbage slaw salad with chicken, mushrooms, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, snap peas, toasted almonds, and a creamy Asian vinaigrette.It was humungous. Couldn't finish it. Not sure if its because I was full or because I was tired of chewing raw veg for what seemed like forever....

I need to start planning next weeks menu. This week worked out pretty good so far. I have strayed from my original plan but I knew that would happen anyway. Having it all mapped out gave me a great jumping off point and made it so I have plenty of compliant food on hand. Where as if I hadn't planned I would have probably given up by now.

9:30 and I am ready to hit the hay. Till tomorrow