The Swallow Flies: Whole30 -- Day 13

All I want to do is eat cookies -- and no, I'm not talking like one Oreo. I'm talking like a truckload of Caramel deLites, Thin Mints, my mom's chocolate chip cookies, my mom's oatmeal raisin cookies, gingersnaps, and oh yes, some Double Stuf Oreos.

Seriously. This is ridiculous.

Interestingly, I checked out the Whole30 timeline, and it looks like I'm right on track:

Yes, give me a damn ~~Twinkie~~ cookie.

Today started off well with a solid, nutritious, Whole30 breakfast (which I'll obviously get to in a minute). After breakfast, I suited up in my running gear, as I had a coffee date with one of my girlfriends who was house-sitting just a mile away.

It was a beautiful morning: about 30 degrees and sunny, but the sidewalks were ridiculous:

It ended up being quite the core workout because I had to keep myself balanced and upright pretty much the entire way there. (I'm sure I looked really awesome to passing drivers.)

It was a beautiful run, though, through the South of Grand area. (For those of you not from Des Moines, South of Grand is a wealthy neighborhood with gorgeous houses.)

I mean, the scenery was spectacular, and once I got off the busier roads, I was able to run in the street and therefore ~~drool over and look like a stalker photographing~~ enjoy the beautiful houses.

Can you believe these houses are literally right behind my little one-bedroom apartment? Neither can I.

I had an absolutely lovely coffee date with ES and the puppies she was dog-watching:

I totally want one.

After a great chat, a couple cups of coffee, and several puppy pedis, I headed back out on the road for my jog home.

I took a quick shower, grabbed a water bottle, half a cucumber, and some macadamia nuts, and BFF and I headed out on a quick shopping trip. Yes, I ended up going back to Bath & Body Works for more three-wick candles (I'm obsessed!). We also hit up Whole Foods for some more Whole30-compliant sausage and World Market to browse.

Finally, I came home, threw together lunch (which I'll get to in a minute), and caught up on Parenthood. (I am so upset that Sarah is sabotaging what she has with Carl because of what Hank says. So frustrating. And yes, I view these characters as real people. Don't judge me -- and don't even get me started on Joel.)

Let's get down to the daily journal:

Breakfast: I have been getting some questions about how I make my breakfast (since I eat nearly the same thing every day). So, I decided that a lazy Saturday was the perfect day to document a step-by-step process for y'all. I apologize in advance for the somewhat obvious photos.

Today's version of breakfast, just to let you know in advance, was sweet potato + green pepper + mushrooms + jalapenos + avocado + sausage + salsa.

First, I preheat the oven to 350. I put a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet and plop the chicken sausage on top. (I didn't take a picture of this because a.) a picture of one sausage would make me giggle, and b.) I'm pretty sure you know what that looks like.) After ten minutes of that bad boy cooking, I flip it to the other side and let it cook for ten more minutes. Then I slice it into little round pieces.

While the sausage is cooking, I first peel and chop the sweet potato:

I find it easiest to first cut it into rounds...

...and then strips...

...and then cubes. This takes all of one minute.

I then dump it into my pan with a scoop of coconut oil and let it cook away while I do the rest.

First, I cut the green pepper. I have found the easiest way to do that is to first chop off the top and the bottom...

...and then scoop out the icky inside and cut the perimeter in two...

...and dice it up.

I obviously did the same with the mushrooms and the jalapenos (two today) and let all of the veggies hang out for a bit while the sweet potato cooked a little while longer.

When the sweet potato is looking about halfway done, I dump the veggies in and mix it all together with a sprinkling of salt and leave it alone for a bit, mixing occasionally.

While everything is doing its thang, I chop the avocado. I think the easiest way to do this is to cut a line around the entire avocado and twist it apart. I then stab the pit with a knife and twist it out. I take a spoon to scoop out half the avocado (and put the other half, still in its skin, in an airtight Ziploc in the fridge). To slice the avocado, I do pretty much exactly what I did with the sweet potato: cut it in strips and then into cubes.

When the stovetop deliciousness is done cooking, I dump it onto a plate, top it with avocado, and dump some of Trader Joe's Milds Salsa on top.

Then I put the chicken sausage on top, and voila! A finished breakfast:

Snack: While BFF and I were out running errands, I ate half a cucumber that I sliced and sprinkled with salt. I also ate approximately three macadamia nuts. I feel like this was kind of a problem, as that is all I ate for about three hours after my run. Oops.

Lunch:

I was totally not looking forward to lunch: leftover chili-lime salmon, leftover veggies, and an apple. There is just something about leftover fish (especially salmon, which is not my favorite in the first place) that grosses me out. I'm not going to lie: I pretty much choked it down and saved the apple for last so that I had something to look forward to.

Dinner:

I'm embarrassed by how much I ate. Yes, I devoured this entire plate. I was absolutely famished today, and like I already said, was craving nothing but cookies. I couldn't bring myself to eat the other salmon filet that's thawing in my fridge, and my chicken didn't thaw in time. So, I made scrambled eggs with coconut aminos, cinnamon, pepper, and blueberries (based off of this recipe); sauteed asparagus, and yet another link of chicken sausage.

I'm finally full.

Physical: Other than being super hungry today, I feel pretty good. I still have a bit of a headache, but it's better after eating. I think I need to drink a lot more water, even though I feel like I'm chugging it like crazy.

I was really looking forward to Whole30 solving all of my skin issues, and while it still might help (and hopefully alleviate altogether), the eczema/psoriasis/dermatitis/whatever-it-is is acting up like crazy on my ear, the spot it manifests itself the worst. (I won't show you a picture, but essentially it looks/feels like my ear is trying to separate from my body where the lobe connects to my neck. I hope that makes sense.) Anyway, it's really bad and super painful today, and I want this nutritional plan to make it stop.

Emotional: Earlier I felt a bit cranky just because I wanted cookies so badly. But, I'm getting better.

Cravings: I don't know if you've gathered this yet or not, but I have had quite the hankering for cookies today. And, I really didn't want to eat the lunch I had planned, and I didn't want to cook dinner. I pretty much just wanted some really easy meals. I don't necessarily consider that a craving per se, just an annoyance that I "had" to eat leftover salmon and veggies and that I "had" to go to the grocery store and prepare food in order to eat healthfully tonight.

Tomorrow is another day, friends.