This week was a roller coaster filled with some amazing highs and some really low lows, including my first Whole30 Valentine's Day. It makes me think of the chorus from my favorite String Cheese Incident song, "Sometimes it seems like such a hard life; But there's good times around the bend; The roller-coaster's got to roll to the bottom; If you want to climb to the top again. It was that kinda week. But, according to all the research, I am over the hump and it should be smooth sailing from here!
I will save you from the monotony of listing my every meal like in my last post, but want to give you the highlights - my favorite recipes, goofs, and little pearls of wisdom I learned along the way.
Sunday - Remember I said I was lazy? My schedule was jam packed this week - with me not getting home before 8:00 most nights. Who wants to cook then? So, my crock-pot became my BFF this week (sorry to my real BFFs for the demotion). Sunday night before going to bed, Eric and I put the ingredients for our Hearty Turkey Vegetable Soup into the crock-pot, cranked it up and went to bed. We ate on this all week. Here is the recipe:
Monday - I cheated. I weighed in, a HUGE no-no according to the Challenge (the intent is to focus on your relationship and food choices not weight loss). Regardless, I was ecstatic - I think I even jumped off the scale, catching at least a good few inches in air in the process. I also woke Eric from his slumber to give him the news, from which he mumbled, "Good job, baby," while rolling back over. Granted, I get up almost 2 hours before his alarm goes off. Sorry honey. I will not tell you the weight loss until the end, suspenseful, huh?
Tuesday - Knowing my Tuesday was another late work night, Monday before going to bed we created another crock-pot keeper recipe, Salsa Chicken Salad, for me to take for a healthy but quick dinner.
Wednesday - This was Day 10, characterized by many as the worst. And they were right. It was like I had a hang-over all day. To use an appropriate (yet indelicate) southern saying, getting through the day was "harder than a bear wearing boxing gloves trying to play with his pecker." Alas, I made it and was even able to refrain from all the goodies at a work event, treating myself to a grilled turkey burger (no bun), baked potato wedges and a concoction that was a mix somewhere between ketchup and cocktail sauce. For lack of a better name, let's call it Dawn's Kicked-up Ketchup.
Thursday - Cruising right along! I was tempted by the 30 pounds (I am not exaggerating) of Hershey Kisses in our office, but fended it off by telling myself they were mini silver daggers just waiting to puncture my spirit and thwart my progress. It also helps that my co-workers are supportive and many have cut sugar out as well. We are a fun office right now, I can tell you. Can you read sarcasm? I did manage to pull together a meal, copy-cat from Health-Bent, that got raves from me and rants from Eric. I am not a fan of chicken thighs, but substituted boneless chicken breasts. Paleo Orange Chicken (Recipe Link). I took leftovers for lunch on Friday, adding raw cashews and steamed carrots (because we had eaten all the broccoli the night before, yummy!).
Friday - Eric was skeptical, but I convinced him a meat-free dinner was in order. My inner vegetarian was screaming with delight! We had a huge salad and a roasted red pepper soup that I found over at Once A Month Meals. It is listed under the Whole30 Freezer meals, but we didn't have enough left to freeze it was that good! Plus, I love the smell of peppers roasting! Veggie Packed Roasted Red Pepper Soup (Recipe Link).
Saturday - Happy Valentine's Day! Until you realize the whole world is eating chocolate and YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY! Even Eric managed to sneak in a few Reese Cups. How rude! I don't have pictures (that is how POed I was, but I think I succeeded in making a healthy and romantic dinner. Here was our menu:
Prosciutto Wrapped Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken (Recipe Link)
Green Beans with orange and yellow peppers
Caramelized cabbage wedges
Apple Crisp (I know it is cheating to pull together a dessert, but...) (Recipe Link)
A question to readers, is this format better? Just highlighting a few, or do you like to see the full plan? Comment below and stay tuned until next week.
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