Round 3, Day 3/4

Hi Friends! Here we are again, isn't this romantic?! 

We have to stop meeting like this. 

(wait, I invited you.)

Happy Halloweve! I hope you all have fun and safe plans with a pretty rockin' costume to go with it. Me? I am spending my day with kids and then coming home to not partake in the magic. This is the last year we can get away with zero trick-or-treaters and we can hang out sans costume. Plus, I'm not one for big parties or group activities. 

So, where was I yesterday? Rude. You could ask with a less accusatory tone, you know. But if you MUST ask, I didn't blog yesterday but had a good reason! 

If you are my friend on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you may already know. For those of you that haven't jumped on the social media train and found me yet, you are living under a rock. Yesterday I had a pretty epic dentist appointment, where I was scheduled for a root canal. I've been a nightime/daytime/allthetime grinder since a young age, and it finally caught up to me. Even wearing a nightguard didn't stop the process of recession and whatever happens when you need a root canal. This girl, never had a cavity, and all of a sudden I need a root canal? The world is an unfair place. 

But wait. Not only did I need one, I actually needed TWO. Of course. Apparently my nerve damage was spreading, and to stop the infection, both teeth needed to be sealed. Whatever, I have insurance for a reason. What was interesting to me is that I have been battling pretty substantial headaches the last six-eight weeks. Terrible, worse than not having coffee headaches. I went to my PCP, and he told me to stop drinking coffee. I did, nothing happened. I swear to you, I get my root canal filled (last week, this week I got it all prettied up) and no more headaches. It was instantaneous. I cannot believe it worked out that way, but I am happy to live with the lights on, music turned up and children laughing in my ear. It is a much better way to live! 

Because my teeth had rods all up in there and I can't chew on that side of my mouth, my dinner looked super awesome and tasty. Let me just describe it for you:

• bowl of rasperries
• bowl of applesauce (homemade. it was amaze)
• tiny pieces of pork cut up by M, so I could choke down some protein. 

I am surprised that my teeth feel pretty okay today: no pain, really and no sensitivity. Most of all, no headaches. 

I woke up today expecting to be uber cranky, like shark-week cranky, and although it took forever to convince myself to get out of bed, once I was up I was good to go. Breakfast was a piece of the salmon/asparagus casserole (not a fan) and lunch was a brussel sprout salad and turkey salad from a few days ago. 

Then the workout. I'm going to take a minute to plug an app I am a huuuuge fan of: PumpUp. I usually don't do this but I like to find things that work for me and then share. Sharing is caring. PumpUp is really neat - it tracks your progress in a few different ways: amount of time spent working out, weight and also how much weight you use when lifting weights.

I like pretty intense workouts but never really know what to do with weights. I use this app and tell it what I want to work out, if I want to do interval training, cardio and an abs circuit and then it makes me a workout. Simple as pie. Yes, I add to it, or superset, but it gets me up and moving and burning those calories that are so desperately clinging onto my body.
It tells you how to do the exercise if you aren't sure, and it also tells you when to break and when to go. The calorie count is WAY OFF (I use a heart rate monitor and can generally double the amount burned) but it is a neat resource that I really like using. If you are unsure what to do in the gym and don't want to look like it, use the app! I have definitely gotten stronger since using it and I always break a sweat. It isn't easy!

By the time I got back to my apt and ready for dinner, I was almost hangry. Unfortunately, when you wake up at 6:50 and usually leave the house by 7:20, the crockpot doesn't always get done. That was today. M is working late so I'm on my own, and all I could think of was to get some food out of the fridge before Food Waste Friday!

I ate:

four eggs
half of that asparagus
avocado
3 pieces no sugar bacon
....then I was full and couldn't finish.

I packed up that salad and the rest of the asparagus for another day. Probably tomorrow. 

Okay, readers, that's it for today!

 Happy Halloweve and 

GO THUNDER! 

Round 3, Day 2.

Day 2! We are here! 

28 to go! 

So far, there is nothing new to report. We had a super busy day, leaving the house at 7:30a and not getting home and into our cozies until 7:45p. Unfortunately, it is just that time of year, ya hear me? 

Needless to say, I get off work much sooner than M. Usually, he comes home between 6:30 and 9:00, depending on the day and how much he has to do. I don't know how he does all of that, manages a ton of our personal life with this house, and also finds time to work out! Come to think of it, he probably doesn't live tweet his job (and that takes up more time than one may think)! Follow my day-to-day things I hear from students here! 

I left work today, came home, read a little in this book which I'm totally into. I try to read one good-for-you book every three fictional books (gotta start somewhere) and I am finding that this one is a pretty easy read and totally applicable to my life. I need to start realizing that I deserve to be compensated for the work I am doing and become a better negotiator. I think I can work on that! 

I digress from the original reason I started this post: Day 2. 

So far, no symptoms, no cravings, no hangover...I worked out yesterday and today and they were both pretty productive. I haven't crashed midday, still drinking coffee...the usual, friends. Maybe soon I'll start to feel the detoxing process but so far, nahhhhh. 

What did we eat today? 

Quality Photo brought to you by iPhone. 

Breakfast: see yesterday's post.

Lunch: see yesterday's dinner. 

Dinner: OH MAN, SO GOOD! What was it? I thought you'd never ask! 

• Baked Sweet Potato (rubbed in ghee, salt/peppered and thrown straight into the oven on the rack. 450 degrees for 50 minutes, OMG SO GOOD).
• Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Bacon and Tessa Mae's Black Pepper Dressing. Easy enough. Just ran the BSprouts through the food processor and rinsed! 
• Picnic Roast (aka pork shoulder) in the crockpot! I used the rest of my bone broth to give it some liquid and today it smelled delicious in here when I got home! 

Round 3, Day 1

Good evening, my dear friends!

Today marked Day 1 of round three. I wish I had something exciting to report, but it has been pretty simple and straightforward here. I rolled out of bed after having 2 weeks off, walked into the bathroom bleary eyed and took my before photos. I missed that mark for round 2, and wanted to make sure I got them in today. Looking back at those photos, I am excited to see progress from this time last year, but also feeling a little unenthusiastic about what I have to do to make that last push for progress.

M and I decided we would get up early three times a week and do cardio together; we both hate it, and often lift weights and do other workouts separately anyway. This gives us a chance to really make sure we are holding each other accountable and getting it in. I hate cardio like I hate poverty, you guys.

I promised a few things to you, readers so I will start delivering!

This week's grocery bill. On the left, you have our Sprouts bill - $67.55 for all our veggies. Beans, Spaghetti Squash, Raspberries, Apples, Broccoli, Lettuce, Brussels, Cauliflower, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Zucchini, Sweet Peppers, Onions, Sweet Potatoes, Eggplant, Lemons, Garlic, Tomatoes, Arugula, Avocado. I eat all meals from home and this round M is eating at least 2 meals so I loaded up.

Whole Foods is solely for things I forgot at Sprouts or things that didn't look good plus protein. I refuse to get my protein from a place where I can smell it while shopping (ie, Sprouts) so I am okay with spending the extra cash on quality meats. This week we bought:

1. 2 lbs of pork sausage
2. 2 lbs ground turkey
3. 36 eggs
4. 3 lb whole chicken
5. 2.5 lbs pork shoulder
6. 10 oz sugar free bacon
7. 2 lb ground beef
8. 2.25 lb chuck short rib

We do our grocery shopping on Saturday, and now that it is Monday, we have a ton of food and a ton of things in the fridge! It's also a much smaller fridge than the one we are used to, so hopefully Food Waste Friday won't show too many gross things in the back of our fridge.

Today's Meals:

Breakfast:

1. Salmon and Asparagus Frittata with a Spaghetti Squash Crust 

(salmon leftover from WF prepared section)

2. Sausage and Arugula Frittata with a Butternut Squash Crust

Lunch:

This photo is actually from when we ate this from dinner, but everything looks like vomit in a tupperware container. 

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Sausage, Bell Peppers, Onions and MORE SQUASH.

Dinner:

This was actually supposed to be a little more exciting, but it wasn't. Adapted from this recipe, but with ground turkey and omitted walnuts. M put pine nuts in his and said he really liked it, so that's a good thing. 

Turkey "Salad" with an avocado/lemon dressing. Easy Peasy, super delish! We weren't a fan of the grapes we bought last week at WF, so I've been trying to use them in other things. The flavor was much better tonight when mixed with some other delicious foods! 

Day One is over, and we are looking forward to Day 2! Join us here, tomorrow! 

Okay, y'all. Here for good.

Hi Readers!

Now, you probably didn't miss me, but I MISS YOU! I miss having a place to put my thoughts down, write about my life, and pretend people care. I'm so self-centered (but I hear if you own it, the stigma goes away...)!

Anyway, Monday is the first day of the third Whole30 I plan to do. I currently have two under my belt, and this time around I want to really get serious about what I am doing. I am setting some pretty serious goals this time around and hoping that my results will be better than what they were during my last round. Since you are here to keep me accountable, below are my goals:

1. Exercise at least 4x/week.
2. No Snacks!
3. No Cheats! --This one is important. Last time, I gave some leeway on what was "technically" whole30. This time, no technicalities: just pure, real food.
4. Do this whole deal, for both M and I, as cheaply as possible. Eating real doesn't have to be spendy. 

That said, this brings my blog to a new level in fun. This is what you can look forward to:

1. Food Photos (NOM..I am planning on dinner for sure, but will try for more - its usually lefties)
2. Weekly Grocery Costs
3. Food Waste Friday (because, seriously, we all have zucchini that goes bad)
4. A glimpse at my favorite food blogs!

I hope you join me in a commitment I am making to you, myself and my kitchen for what could be quite a while! I can't wait to see you here!

**Please connect with me via social media: @babybarnacle (twitter) , @sadienewell (instagram)!

S