Whole30, Take 2 (Kind Of)

Hello friends!

I apologize (again) for the irregularity of posting lately. Ever since I got back from Atlanta, it has been so hard to get into a routine -- for blogging and, more importantly, for working out and eating healthfully.

First, I have been traveling quite a bit (to Nebraska for a weekend, to Ottumwa and back one night for tennis, to Jefferson and back for a race the following weekend), so it's been tough planning meal plans and grocery lists. Second, I have been busy with tennis meets every single day after school, so cooking has been the last thing that I've wanted to do.

In actuality, those reasons are both excuses.

Source

I could have been eating much better than I have been: I could have planned my weekly meals, I could have gone to the store, I could have cooked easy and fast things. But, I didn't.

And now I feel like crap.

So, it's time to get back to a mostly Whole30/Paleo diet.

I say mostly, though, because I know there are going to be times in the near future (as I alluded to in my last Five on Friday post) where I am going to choose to eat non-compliantly. For instance, Eric and Alicia's wedding is coming up in two weeks. Also, summer is coming, and I am going to want to have some cocktails while lounging by the pool. And, a boy is cooking me dinner on Thursday night, and I don't want to be picky.

Um, say what?!

Yes, a boy is cooking me dinner on Thursday. This is the first time in years that a boy will have cooked for me. I am stoked.

And, I'm really, really, really excited about this guy. He is so smart, he cracks me up, he is extremely thoughtful and sweet, he is pretty darn smoking hot, he is motivated and driven and successful, he is active and has varied interests, he and I share a ridiculous amount of similarities, and I could go on and on and on. I am fairly confident in saying that this was the best first date ever.

Suffice it to say that I am very hopeful, and I would appreciate it if you could all cross your fingers for me. K thanks. :)

Source

But, let's get back to the topic at hand: Whole30.

I pretty much restarted my healthy living at dinner tonight. I had no food in my fridge this morning: literally, there were a few condiments and some cans of La Croix, but that was it. So, I went to Bruegger's and got a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and the smoked salmon salad for lunch. So, I ate a lot of carbs and gluten today.

(And then I ate the leftover gummy bears from yesterday's race. Oops.)

But then, I went to the grocery store and spent $100 on delicious, super-healthy eats. And tonight, I cooked dinner in the first time in far too long:

I took this recipe and made a Balsamic Mustard sauce, and I took this recipe to pan-sear a ribeye. It turned out amazingly well; I'm seriously super pleased with how delicious it was.

I also sauteed some green beans in olive oil and rosemary sea salt and sided the whole meal with some fresh grapes that were oh-so tasty. And, I had a La Croix (of course).

But on that note, friends, I have to head to bed. I am still so, so tired from Market to Market on Saturday. (And speaking of M2M, expect a recap tomorrow morning!)

I hope y'all have been well!


What's the best recipe you've made recently? I'm totally looking for some inspiration.

Carb-Loading

I need to get into a better routine.

I have been super busy this week, and I have clearly not been managing my time well since I've been blogging at 10:00 every night. I mean, let's be real: this is my bed time, y'all.

Today was especially busy: instead of teaching, I attended a district-wide curriculum-revision meeting all day long. It was really, really productive. It was also a lot of fun, as several of us have worked on committees together for quite a while now. MB (holla, yo!) was there, too, so that made it extra fun.

After that meeting, I headed to school for yet another meeting, and then I headed straight to the tennis courts for the most freezing-cold meet ever. (Thankfully we pretty much kicked butt, which meant that the meet ended fairly quickly. Regardless, I could barely feel my fingers when I got home.)

When I got home, I went straight to work: I did dishes, I did laundry, I reorganized my workout clothes (clearly that is an eight-o'clock-on-a-weeknight project...), I cooked a super-late dinner, and I packed.

Because y'all, I'm getting the heck out of dodge tomorrow and am running a half marathon on Sunday!

Eek.

I may not be prepared mentally or physically, but at least my running gear is. :)

Now that most everything is ready to go for tomorrow, I'm chilling on the couch, sandwiched by kitties -- one of whom is snoring so, so loudly:

Breakfast: Even though I was able to sleep in an extra 30 minutes due to my meeting starting later than school, I was running late. So, I ran to Bruegger's for a bagel. This was somewhat purposeful, as I also want to see how my tummy does with bread prior to race day. I still haven't figured out Paleo fueling, so I think I'm going to go with a bagel (and peanut butter and a banana) early, early, early on Sunday.

Also, I got a salted caramel coffee at Bruegger's. They don't have fancy coffee drinks there, but they do have the best brewed coffee of anywhere that I have been. This was no exception. GO.

Lunch:

The curriculum team headed to Star Bar for lunch, so I ordered my current favorite: the Sesame-Crusted Tuna Salad. As usual, it was superb.

Then, we walked across the street to Creme, and this is where it all fell apart.

Yep: Creme is a cupcake and dessert boutique.

I mean, seriously. Is that beautiful, or what?

I exhibited zero self-control today and ordered this:

However, I learned my lesson: I felt so sick for about four hours afterwards, and I didn't eat anything for eight hours afterwards.

But the real kicker? It was only okay.

And truthfully, I'm getting a little sick to my stomach even thinking about the sugar overload that I consumed.

So yes, a lesson was learned.

Dinner: I didn't take a picture of dinner because it was far from exciting: two hot dogs (Whole30-compliant) and sauteed sweet potato wedges.


And now, friends, I think it's time for me to join my passed out kitty cat. G'night!

On Wednesdays...

I hope you all wore pink today!

Source

I didn't.

I totally spaced off the tenth anniversary of Mean Girls. But, considering the fact that I'm stuck in high school for the rest of my life, I think I pay enough homage to that flick.

Not only did I not wear pink this morning, but I barely pulled myself together enough to look somewhat presentable. I woke up this morning more tired than I think I have ever been. Conferences last night truly did me in.

I chugged my coffee but still had a hard time waking up. It was a rough morning.

But, the day got better.

After my afternoon professional development, I headed home to change and grab the Scheel's gift card that my aunt gave me for Christmas: I need a new race outfit, after all.

Side note: you should never, ever, ever wear new clothing on race day. I, however, don't like to listen to solid, tried-and-true advice. Instead, I like cute, new clothes.

Unfortunately, Scheel's did not have the Under Armor tops that I like, so I headed to my favorite place for workout gear, Old Navy. I had some Super Cash burning a hole in my pocket, and I ended up getting over $100 worth of goodies for $60: two sports bras, one pair of capris, and three workout tops. I was pretty stoked.

Then, I met one of my bowling buddies out for dinner. His birthday was yesterday, and we needed to celebrate. Per his choice, we hit up Sakari for some delicious sushi. After, we headed to our last bowling night of the season.

And now I'm about ready to pass out. :)

Breakfast:

This looks oddly similar to yesterday's, doesn't it? Well, friends, that's because it is exactly the same: three eggs scrambled with sauteed mushrooms and onion and topped with avocado and salsa.

Lunch: I didn't even bother to take a photo of my lunch because, like breakfast, it was the exact same as yesterday's. I need a little variety in my Instagram masterpieces. Again, it was a super-delicious burger, sauteed mushrooms, and avocado. (Oh, and I also ate an apple.)

I'm pretty sure those burgers are going to be a fairly regular item on my menu. Holy yum.

Snack: MB forced two pieces of chocolate (mini Krackel bars) down my throat. Just kidding: as I mentioned before, this was a choice that I made.

It was, however, not a choice I needed to make. I could've refrained from eating the chocolate and would've been just fine.

Dinner:

Clearly this was a Whole30 break, but it was oh, so worth it. We ordered four rolls: the godzilla, the dynamite crab, the avocado, and the spicy tuna. And, we devoured all of it.

Snack: On the last night of bowling, we always have "fun night," where a strike only requires nine pins (for men) or eight pins (for women), and people bring lots of goodies to share. Well, I had approximately zero ounces of self-control tonight, and I indulged in a cookie that one of my teammates made as well as a small cream puff bite.

Again, I could've totally just passed those up, but I did not. It was completely my choice, but wish I had thought about the choice I was making before I absent-mindedly grabbed for the treats.

I am in no way saying that eating the chocolate at the meeting or the cookie(s) at bowling was wrong and something that I shouldn't have done; I am saying that it is something that I could have thought about a bit more in order to make a more cognizant, less habitual choice.

But you know what? Tomorrow is a new day. :)


What is your favorite high school movie?

The Breakfast Club is a definite winner in my book, but I absolutely love Mean Girls, too. Oh, and 10 Things I Hate About You. And Can't Hardly Wait.

Clearly I have an unhealthy attachment to high school...

One Long Day

I am not one to complain a whole heck of a lot, but today was a loooooooong day.

I woke up bright and early at 5:30 -- before my alarm even went off. I was semi-awake anyway (guess it was just where I was in the sleep cycle), and then the truck came to empty the dumpster for my apartment building. My bedroom faces the back parking lot, which is right where the dumpster is, and let me tell you about the truck that comes super early every Tuesday morning: it is not quiet.

So, I was up and at 'em.

For breakfast, I whipped up my current favorite: scrambled eggs with sauteed onion and mushroom, topped with avocado and salsa.

For lunch (a mere three hours later), I ate leftovers from last night:

Seriously, this burger is amazing. And I'm pretty sure that my new favorite food is sauteed mushrooms. In addition to this deliciousness, I also ate an apple and a bite of the super awesome Paleo treats that I made my coworker/friend Lindsey for her birthday.

I had a fairly busy day teaching, and then we had parent-teacher conferences. So, essentially I had a 13-hour day.

And, I'm glad that I ate a relatively hearty lunch, as dinner was non-existent. By the time I headed to the PTA dinner in the teachers' lounge (only an hour after conferences had started), it was all gone. I ended up eating approximately eight grapes, a bag of "clean" popcorn (can't remember the brand, but it was legit), and a peanut butter cookie. The popcorn and cookie weren't technically "Paleo," but I was hungry and was not well-prepared.

Oh well.

I apologize for the short post, but I am wiped, friends. I need some relaxation -- stat.


How would you have solved the "I-forgot-to-pack-food" dilemma that I encountered today?

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Did y'all miss me the last few days?

I missed you! I swear I'm not kidding. I have been doing so much writing lately that I seriously missed not doing it -- and not communicating with you all -- the past several days.

I'm sorry that I wasn't back like I anticipated on Saturday night...or all day yesterday...or this morning. We got back from Atlanta around 3:30 on Saturday (don't worry: there will be a post all about the trip tomorrow morning), and I'm pretty sure that aside from a quick 4.5-mile run, a trip to the grocery store, and dinner with Katie on Sunday, I slept straight through from 4:00 Saturday afternoon until 6:30 this morning.

Clearly I had some recovering to do.

But, I'm back in the swing of things today.

I woke up this morning and had a big bowl of Paleo Oatmeal for breakfast. Y'all, I think I'm a bit over that meal for right now. It makes a lot, and I can barely choke down half of it. (That could also be because I forgot the usual spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) Regardless, I think it's time for a break.

For lunch, I had scrambled eggs with sauteed onions and mushrooms, topped with salsa. I also inhaled an apple.

For a snack, I strayed a bit from Whole30 to eat my leftover dinner from last night: hummus, pickled onions, olives, and spicy peppers. (The only thing not Whole30 was the hummus and a very small bite of feta cheese.)

For dinner, I made the best thing I've had in a while:

I smashed a pound of ground beef with one-fourth a red onion, some Dijon mustard, some dill, some salt, and some garlic powder. I topped it with avocado and sauteed mushrooms and sided it with sweet potato and strawberries.

It was absolutely delicious and so, so filling.

I'm already looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow.

I'm sorry this was such a short post this evening, but I still have a bit of unpacking and straightening up to do. Seriously, I have been a waste of space since I got back in town, and I need to get my stuff together. It's time to get back on track, friends!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a great start to your week!

Tempting Fate

Guess where I'll be in less than 24 hours? Atlanta!

I hope I'll run into these ladies:

Source

Let's be real, though: I haven't watched this show in ages (darn no cable), and the only two I'd recognize would be Nene Leakes and Kim Zolciak.

If you have any great suggestions as to awesome restaurants or must-see/must-do things in the ATL, please let me know! I'll be there Tuesday through Saturday, and while a lot of my time will be spent in a conference, I know we'll have a bit of time to explore the city as well. I'd greatly appreciate some recommendations.

Today was a good -- albeit busy -- day. I taught all day, and it seemed like I didn't have any downtime whatsoever. Twelve-week grades were due, I had a bunch of random paperwork to finish prior to taking off tomorrow, and I was, oh yeah, teaching.

After work, I headed straight to tennis practice where I worked out a bit with the girls. While I am still pretty darn crappy at tennis, I do have to say that I think I'm getting a bit better, and I really, really like it. I want to practice more, for sure.

Then I ran a few quick errands before heading home to finish packing. I crammed so much in my little suitcase, y'all: you'd be impressed.

I then painted my nails (holla!), wrote a couple of posts that will publish while I'm out o' town, and grabbed dinner.

Now, I should be heading to bed, but I'll probably get a few other things done first. After all, I'll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane tomorrow! Yay!

Breakfast:

This picture looks pretty icky, but I promise it tasted delicious. I sauteed onions and mushrooms in ghee, just like I did yesterday (oh, so good), and then scrambled them with three eggs and half an avocado. It was awesome.

Lunch: It was not a pretty picture, but again, it tasted super yummy. I ate two compliant hot dogs, a bowl of sauerkraut, and some mango slices. It was totally random (trying to use up some fridge food before I leave) and totally tasty.

Dinner:

Again, I didn't want to buy new food and/or have leftovers when I head out of town, so I headed out to Chipotle for a burrito bowl (minus the rice and beans).

I felt like I was tempting fate a bit since my lips turned into Angelina Jolie's last time I ate this meal, but so far, I'm just fine!

And, the food was so good (and I was apparently so hungry) that I pretty much inhaled it in a whole three minutes.


I hope you all had a wonderful day, too! While I have posts scheduled for each morning that I'm gone, I'm not certain how often I'll be able to write in the evenings. Try not to miss me too much!

Peace out. :)

A Bridesmaids Moment

Before we get started with today's blog post, please help me congratulate the winner of the Green Tea Matcha Giveaway:

Congratulations, Jordan!

One of the things we tell our kids in See-Us Run Des Moines is that the long runs leading up to the race are running practice (obviously) but also practice for what to eat (or what not to eat) the night before and the morning of the big day.

Today, friends, I learned what not to eat.

The morning started out well: I woke up around 8:30 (because I went to sleep way past my bedtime), ate a banana, lounged around a bit, cooked breakfast (eggs and berries), and got ready to run.

I ate probably an hour before I actually started running, which was a good thing in this whole equation. After eating, I messed around on the computer for a bit, tried to find my water bottle belt thing (found the belt but no bottles), and used the restroom. When I say use the restroom, I really mean reenact the scene from Bridesmaids.

Source

"Better now than before the run," I thought.

After that fun ended, I picked Cindy up, and we drove to the trailhead so that I wouldn't have to face the hill from hell yet again after a long run.

I was not super pumped to run, but I knew I had to knock out a solid ten miles in order to feel prepared for the half marathon that is coming up in two weeks. The first mile or so was great, as we chatted away while doing the Galloway Method (run three minutes, walk one minute). After that, though, I started to feel not so hot.

My tummy started to hurt like crazy, but it was a weird hurt for a middle of a run: it felt like I was going to throw up, not that I was going to bridesmaids in the middle of the trail. I was carrying a water bottle (since I couldn't find the little ones that go in my belt), so I took a few sips of that and kept on running.

I would say that Cindy and I ran a good 2.5-3 miles, and then I told her that I pretty much just needed to walk. So, that's what we did.

We ended up getting in a 6.25 miles at a 14-minute-per-mile pace, which is actually not too shabby. It definitely wasn't the rockstar ten-miler that I was hoping for, though.

Next weekend, I suppose.

I desperately need to figure out what the heck to eat prior to a long run, though. I think next week I'm going to try a banana with almond butter. That way I'm not too full (like I was today), and it's a good mix of carbs, proteins, and fats to give me energy throughout the run. (I will also eat my baby food pouches and fruit snacks as fuel throughout the run.)

I also need to figure out hydration better. While I feel like I've been drinking water like it's going out of style, my pee is still dark yellow, so I'm obviously not as hydrated as I should be. I could definitely tell that while I was out on the trail today in the heat and humidity.

Water will be the theme of this week, I suppose.

Breakfast:

When I first woke up, I scarfed down a banana. Pictured above, however, was my real breakfast: blueberry eggs with a side of blackberries and strawberries. I also used my bunny mug for coffee this morning because, well, Easter.

Lunch: I didn't really eat lunch but rather drank approximately 18,000 gallons of water and literally ate salt straight from the canister (per Mom's recommendation to replenish electrolytes).

Dinner:

My Easter dinner consisted of three Whole30-compliant hot dogs, sauteed mushrooms and onions (holy yum), and mango slices.

And yes, I ate three hot dogs. Don't judge me.


How did you spend this beautiful Sunday?

Easter Eve

I am so thankful that it's the weekend.

I had grand plans today, including a ten-mile run. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. However, I did get a lot of other stuff accomplished.

I woke up super early (7:00 or so) and headed to the grocery store to pick up some meat for tonight. I tried to grab it last night, but unfortunately the butcher had already left, and they didn't have any beef short ribs cut and ready to go. So, this morning started with a trip to Dahl's.

When I got home, I immediately started prepping the meat and the sauce to throw in the crock pot since it needed to cook for 9-11 hours. As soon as that started simmering away, I cooked breakfast and enjoyed it at the table with a special someone:

Who else would I be having breakfast with, y'all? The "special someone" was a little girl kitty. Don't get your hopes up.

While I was eating breakfast, Katie texted and asked if I wanted to run errands with her. Since I needed to pick up a few things for my trip (and since Old Navy was having a killer sale), I decided to postpone my planned run and head out west with her.

First, we stopped at Old Navy, and I picked up a strapless linen dress, a casual black dress, workout capris, a workout top, a cross-body purse (but in a red color), and a work shirt (that looks a lot cuter on me than it does in this picture). While I spent more money than the $0 I anticipated on spending, I did not buy anything too frivolous and am really pleased with my purchases.

Second, we stopped at Trader Joe's. I didn't need a whole lot of groceries since I'm heading out of town, but I did pick up some apples and almond butter to take with me to Atlanta, some blueberries and mango slices, and some coconut milk to have on reserve.

Finally, we stopped at Target where we farted around for far too long. I got a few necessities, such as deodorant and fuel for long runs (i.e. baby food pouches), but I also picked up some splurges: a pair of black flip-flops and a maxi dress (with the excuse of well, I have a plane ride this week, so I need the dress). It doesn't necessarily look like it online, but the dress is actually very flattering.

All of our shopping and wandering around had us quite famished, so we stopped at Star Bar for lunch prior to heading our separate ways.

When I got home, I worked on some blog entries for this week since I will not be in town to write. Get excited for those.

Around 5:00, it was time to start getting ready to head over to Katie's for Shaw's birthday dinner. I, of course, had to wear one of my brand-new outfits:

Dress: Old Navy; Shoes: DSW; Necklace: Hot Mama;
Earrings, Ring, and Bracelets: Express

I'm pretty pleased with how the look turned out. I do, however, need to get the top of the dress taken in just a smidge: it's a little big (surprisingly) in the boob-age area.

The party was super fun: it was me, Katie, Katie's special friend, Shaw and his two daughters (Kate and Natalie), Beth, and Tony (formerly known as The Boy). We ate some delicious food, watched silly YouTube videos, and then caught the season premiere of Orphan Black, a show that I am going to start watching from the beginning so that I can participate in discussions with my friends.

It was a good night with great people. I do have to say, however, that I am a bit down tonight. And what makes me even sadder is that my "being down" has to do with stupid boys. (Seriously, I embarrassed that I give men that "power" to make me feel crappy. I am a strong, independent woman. Ugh.)

• Boy 1: I'm annoyed that he said he wanted to be friends with me yet does not initiate contact with me, does not respond to questions regarding whether or not he is attending an event so that I know how much food to buy, and just acts differently when we hang out.
• Boy 2: I'm annoyed that he bailed on a commitment with very short notice, and I'm annoyed that he responded in an utterly disrespectful manner when I called him out on leaving six other people high and dry.
• Boy 3: I'm annoyed that in a text conversation last weekend he told me that he missed me and that he had been talking with his parents about me but then that he has not communicated with me (or responded to my two attempts at communication) since Wednesday.

I guess I'm just frustrated and upset with the male species as a whole.

It's about time I found a quality partner, someone who treats me well and who has my best interests at heart. If anyone has any idea where I can find someone who fits those characteristics (and is also single, smart, funny, motivated, and semi-attractive), please let me know.

It's about time for me to log off, though, as I have big plans for tomorrow and need a good night's sleep: ten miles are on the calendar, y'all (as is laundry, packing, and grading). Yikes.

Breakfast:

Today I had a carb-heavy breakfast because I thought I was going for a run. Oops. I mixed one sweet potato with a jalapeno, mushrooms, avocado, salsa, and two eggs. I made a small strawberry-blackberry salad for a side.

Lunch:

I had my most recent "usual" from Star Bar today: the sesame-crusted tuna salad. Honestly, I ordered this as a bit of a "test." This is the meal I ate right before having the most awful allergic reaction yet on Wednesday.

The test was a complete and utter failure, however, as I had absolutely no reaction whatsoever. (It's a scientific failure but a social success, as I did not have to take Benadryl and/or hydroxyzine in the middle of the day.)

Dinner:

Katie and I both made Korean Short Ribs (we needed two crock pots for the number of people that we had at the party). Katie also made a pear-celery slaw and some pickled cucumbers, radishes, and red onions. We then put everything together into tacos and/or lettuce wraps. I also made some spicy green beans for a side.

It was so good. We made nearly ten pounds of ribs for eight people -- and had zero leftovers.

Katie also made a cheesecake with a chocolate crust and raspberry sauce. I had a very small piece, and it was absolutely divine. It was so, so sweet -- ridiculously sweet after not having had sugar for quite a long time.


What did y'all do on this beautiful Easter Eve?

Be Jealous

I fudged a bit on my Whole30/Paleo plan again today.

Remember how I (and 8,000 other people on Pinterest) said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail? Yeah, well that happened this morning.

I totally forgot that I was supposed to get eggs on my way home yesterday, so I had a whole one egg in my fridge this morning. And I totally spaced on making coffee until about 7:10, and since I have to be at work at 7:25 and did not have time to French-press a pot, I decided I would just head to Bruegger's, my favorite coffee spot in town -- that just so happens to be three blocks from my house.

Well, since I was out of eggs and going to Bruegger's for coffee anyway, I decided I'd just grab a bagel. I did get it cut "skinny" so that it was really only about three-fourths of a normal bagel, but I did get it with cream cheese.

It was great.

Interestingly, yesterday and today I didn't stick to a totally "clean" diet, and yesterday and today I didn't have crazy allergic reactions.

It's super interesting, but it's also really, really frustrating. I'm trying to treat my body the best that it can be treated, but when I do so, I get crazy-sick, crazy-allergic.

I guess I won't totally attribute the allergies to clean-eating quite yet and will wait for the allergist's official diagnosis, but it's a frustrating, to say the least.

In other news, today was an absolutely beautiful day. At tennis practice after school, I wore a tank-top and my running capris -- and actually played a little tennis with the girls! I am looking forward to playing more, as it's really fun and a good, easy workout. I am absolutely terrible right now, but I think I could actually be pretty good if I practiced.

After practice, I headed home and started cleaning my apartment. I have been so disgusted by how messy it's gotten lately due to me simply not being home to clean it, so I spent several hours scrubbing the toilet, cleaning the litter-box room, organizing summer/winter clothes and shoes, dusting ceiling fans, and more.

I took a mini-break to head to a team dinner for tennis. It was a really nice little get-together, and I played a few games of Bananagrams (my favorite) with the hostess, her mother, and one of my favorite girls, a student from Kazakhstan.

So, tonight was spent cleaning and hanging out with high-school students. I am so cool.

Breakfast:

Like I said, I had a skinny everything bagel with light garden veggie cream cheese -- and a salted caramel coffee. It was all so good and so easy. I also didn't think that was enough carbs, so I ate a banana, too.

Lunch: I didn't do a great job for lunch. I ate a bite of my Moroccan Meatballs and just couldn't eat anymore. I don't know what my deal with meat has been lately, but I just can't do it. So instead, I ate more carbs: yet another banana and some all-natural fruit snacks.

Snack: I ate a Larabar before tennis practice.

Dinner: At the tennis potluck, I had a very small portion of pulled pork with sriracha sauce, cole slaw, and pineapple. I'm sure there were some non-compliant ingredients in there, but oh well. I'm going to log off shortly and watch Game of Thrones (if I don't fall asleep), and I may eat an apple with almond butter since I'm a bit hungry and will likely head out on a long run early in the morning. We'll see.


I hope y'all had an amazing Friday night and are not super jealous of my shenanigans!

What are your plans for the weekend?

True Confessions

As the title implies, I have a confession to make.

I'm not sure what the cat has to do with her
husband being away, but...
Source

I totally strayed from Whole30 today.

But here's the thing: I do not feel bad about it.

I have been feeling pretty crappy all week, and I have had pretty much no appetite whatsoever. Last night was especially bad allergy-wise, and today was a long day: teaching followed by a tennis meet that lasted until around 7:00.

I had chicken and pork chops in my fridge to cook for tonight, but neither one of those huge hunks of meat sounded good tonight. The only thing that sounded somewhat palatable, in fact, was Gusto pizza.

So I said screw it. I have been eating next to nothing lately, and if I want to eat Gusto pizza, I'm going to eat Gusto pizza.

Katie (BFF), Shaw, Kate, and I headed to Gusto after the meet -- and then we swung by Orange Leaf. I definitely ate some fro-yo, as it was something I had been craving for a really, really long time.

I was such a little kid. Nom nom nom.

Two things about breaking my Whole30 regime:

1. The crap food is no longer in my system. It lasted there approximately one hour before quickly making its exit. (You're welcome for sparing you the details.)
2. I have not yet noticed any allergy issues today -- nor did I really notice any in St. Louis. Is it possible that my body is reacting to not having some sort of food in it? Does it need wheat or dairy or something else that I have been "depriving" it? I don't know.

I guess it's something to consider.

But anyway, here are today's eats:

Breakfast:

I was one of those people today and nearly forgot to eat my breakfast. I'm telling you: I have had no appetite at all lately. But, I remembered with about ten minutes left in my planning period and ate my scrambled eggs, avocado, mushrooms, and jalapeno. I also ate a banana right as the kids were walking in.

Lunch: I ate a small portion of leftover Moroccan Meatballs and cauliflower rice. Honestly, I just had a few bites. I just wasn't that hungry and just wasn't feeling it.

Snack: At the tennis meet, I ate some of the all-natural fruit snacks that I bought for running fuel, an apple, and a Key Lime Pie Larabar.

Dinner:

I had the Il Figaro pizza from Gusto. This is my favorite, and it had been off the menu for several months. It tasted okay tonight -- not nearly as awesome as I remember it.

Even though it was just okay, I ate the entire thing. Yes, yes I did.

And then I ate this:

It was half Wedding Cake and half Salted Caramel, topped with marshmallow stuff, cookie dough bites, graham cracker powder, and peanut butter shavings. I didn't fill my bowl too full at all, but I did not even eat the whole thing.

The splurge today was totally worth it.

Guess What Day It Is!

Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike!

Source

First, please remember to link up with me and Aly (Here Comes Happiness) tomorrow for our weekly Three Thanks link-up. It's Aly's birthday tomorrow, and I'm sure she would greatly appreciate the gift of your link-age. :)

Today was a busy day, as they all have been lately.

Work was okay, although I did receive a not-so-nice note from a student, which completely hurt my feelings and upset me quite a bit. Luckily, I had approximately 60 other amazing students that made my day much better -- as well as my family members who joked about the not-so-nice note via group text and totally cheered me up.

Because today was Wednesday, we had a building-wide professional development this afternoon, and it was absolutely awesome. Linds, the teacher with whom I have worked the most closely for the past six years, gave an amazing presentation about how to best serve LGBT youth. She did such a phenomenal job: I love her so much and am so thankful she's my colleague and my friend.

I had to duck out of PD early, however, as I had an appointment with an allergist.

I've seen enough of these in the last two
weeks to last me a while.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a whole lot of answers. He drew four tubes of my blood: one to send to the East Coast to test for an Ibuprofen allergy, and three to send downtown to Mercy Hospital to check something with enzymes.

As soon as I heard enzyme testing, I knew I had to turn to my trusty source of all things medical: Google. I am pretty sure that this is what is wrong with me. I texted it to my dad, and he said, "Just what every doc loves -- a patient with access to the Internet." I responded that I still need the doctor to tell me what causes it; I haven't quite figured that out on my own...yet.

Anyway, after the blood tests come back, I will likely have to go in for skin testing: both for food allergies and for contact allergies, although he's thinking more "no" than "yes" on food allergies.

Shortly after my doctor's appointment, I met one of my good friends, Emmy Jean, out for dinner. We hit up Star Bar, one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Des Moines, and had a quick dinner and fabulous conversation. I love that girl.

As I was driving from the ol' SB to bowling, I noticed that my face felt really, really hot. I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, my face was bright red and splotchy, having some sort of allergic reaction to something. This reaction continued through bowling and grew to be over my entire back, both of my arms, my chest, and my booty.

Bowling was really fun tonight (aside from itching like crazy and looking like a hot mess). First, I bowled really, really well: I scored 139 on the first two games (nothing like consistency) and a 156 (or something close to it) on my third game. I was pretty pleased with myself. Second, one of the guys I bowl with recently started dating one of my former student's moms, so she met up with us. She is so, so nice, and I really enjoyed spending time with her outside of parent-teacher conferences. (It also helped that she talked about how much her son loved me last year, that I was his favorite teacher, that I was "so hard" but taught him a ton, and that she as a parent really, really appreciated me. After the last couple of days -- with the parent interaction yesterday and the student's note today -- it was really great to hear that from her.) I told my teammate not to screw this up. :)

Back to my health: right now, my face hurts really, really bad, and the rest of my body itches really, really bad. This might be the worst reaction I've had yet -- ironically, on the same day that I saw the allergist.

Awesome.

I took two hydroxyzine and a claritin, so I'm hoping to knock out pretty quickly.

Breakfast:

Remember how I didn't eat dinner last night because I just wasn't feeling well? Apparently that continued on to this morning. I ate three bites of Paleo Oatmeal and threw the rest in the trashcan. I just couldn't do it.

Lunch: And I don't have a picture for lunch...because I didn't eat any. I still wasn't hungry. Around 2:45, however, I did eat an apple.

Dinner:

I was finally a bit hungry for dinner, which is why I suggested to Emmy Jean that we hit up Star Bar. The only thing that sounded good to me tonight was a salad -- and I ate the whole darn thing. Like last time I was at SB, I got the sesame-crusted tuna salad. It was absolutely delicious.

I also sucked down two vodka-sodas (with lime), which might just be my new favorite drink.


I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful Wednesday!

Early to Bed

Tomorrow I go to the allergist. I could not be more excited, y'all. Essentially, I really, really, really just want him to tell me that I'm not at all allergic to NSAIDs, specifically Ibuprofen and Aspirin. (Well, I'm also hoping he doesn't list avocados and/or jalapenos as the culprits. I might pretend to not hear him if he does.)

But like I said, I'm really hoping he says that Advil is a-okay. I've had another killer headache this afternoon/evening (turning into more of a migraine than just a headache as we speak), and I'd really like some drugs to quell the icepick jabbing into my skull. This headache/migraine/anvil-on-the-brain is likely due to those hormone issues I discussed this morning. (And speaking of this morning, if you liked that post, you'll LOVE tomorrow's.)

So, like last Thursday, this is going to be a somewhat brief post -- and, there aren't going to be any pictures. I totally spaced and/or was preoccupied.

Breakfast: This morning I ate sweet potatoes, eggs, mushrooms, jalapeno, and avocado. As Aly said, I was "playing with fire" (she totally thinks I'm crazy-allergic to avocados). So far, so good!

Lunch: I barely had time for lunch today. I had quite a lengthy phone conversation with a very upset parent during my lunch block, and I was quite upset myself after we ended the conversation, so I was not super hungry for lunch. Regardless, I ate a bit of my leftover Moroccan Meatballs, cauliflower rice, and broccoli.

Snack: At the tennis match tonight, I ate the apple that I brought for lunch and a few bites of the cashew-almond-craisin trail mix.

Dinner: ____________________________

Yeah...I didn't eat dinner. My head hurts too bad right now to make something, and I am so not hungry. It's the I-kind-of-feel-like-throwing-up headache that I had last week, and I don't think food would be good. Instead, I chugged a coconut water and am now working on a La Croix while I choke down some acetaminophen and cross my fingers that it actually does something for the pain.


I hope you all had a lovely Tuesday, and I look forward to "seeing" you tomorrow -- when I hopefully feel better enough to write more.

For now, I'm going to go pass out -- and yes, I realize it's not even 8:00. That's just how I roll.

April Showers

If you missed it this morning, I am hosting a giveaway on my blog this week: check it out!

You know that whole "April showers bring May flowers" saying? I'm pretty sure they (whomever "they" are) meant rain showers, not snow showers.

Mother Nature needs to get her shit together: I was not prepared to scrape off my car windows this morning before work.

As long as this happens soon, I suppose...

Source

Aside from that inconvenience, today was a good day: my ninth graders were mostly well behaved, and my seniors watched an episode of Parenthood in class (love love love). After school, I headed to the tennis courts for practice, but due to miscommunication (as a result of the weather), only three girls showed up, so Shaw and I canceled practice and instead came back to my place to figure out match-ups for tomorrow's meet.

After Shaw left, I worked on tomorrow's blog post (spoiler alert: it has a lot of TMI about lady issues), cooked dinner, and chilled for a bit. Now, I'm finishing up this post and am planning on crashing shortly after hitting "publish."

Breakfast:

I was running a bit late this morning and needed something fast for breakfast. So, I turned to a tried-and-true staple: Paleo Oatmeal. I ran out of almond butter, however, so I topped this mix with sunflower butter, and OMG: it was amazing.

Lunch:

Today's lunch consisted of last night's leftovers: steak, sauteed asparagus, sauteed sweet potatoes. I ate all of my vegetables, but the steak was not super great leftover; so, I ate about half of that and called it good.

Snack:

I was feeling hungry (and probably a little calorie-deficient) from lunch, so I sliced up an apple and sided it with trail mix (cashews, almonds, craisins) for an afternoon snack. Yum, yum, yum.

Dinner:

Dinner was one of my all-time favorite Whole30 recipes: Moroccan Meatballs with cauliflower rice and steamed broccoli. (Instead of lamb, however, I used ground beef, and I ran out of paprika, so my recipe was a bit more "boring" than the original.)

Also, I didn't eat that whole plate. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, and about half of that is going to be my lunch for tomorrow.


How was your Monday? How's the weather in your part of the world?