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! 

procrastination is my middle name

Okay, it's been a bit of a minute since I've given you an update, readers!

There's been enormous change in my personal life, but nothing I want to share with you just yet, darlings. To deter speculation, I am not pregnant, engaged or otherwise planning a big surprise announcement; my apologies! Let's talk Whole30, shall we? I have so many interesting things to share (which probably won't interest you in the same way they interest me)! Feel free to skip to the part after this if you're interested in just my ...symptoms.

Okay, we left off on day 25. Five days left and I started to get antsy. It wasn't that I didn't want to eat Whole30, I was just sick of my options, hadn't been to the grocery store, and was totally living the motto "failing to plan is planning to fail." I was close. Regardless, I pushed through. Let's do a quick recap of the last five days and then a recap of what happened in my POST W30 mess.

Day 26 - July 4. 
Happy Independence Day! M had to work so it wasn't a temptation for drinking and what not. We went to our fave restaurant  for dinner and called it a day. I had a delicious kale and pomegranate salad and we ate mussels. Easy peasy.

Day 27 - July 5. 
I got on a plane and went to Portland, Oregon. Larabars, raw sweet potatoes and kombucha, oh my! Life was good, easy, and my wonderful sister took me to Trader Joe's to buy groceries. We ate steak and grilled peppers for dinner, and I tried my hand at prosciutto wrapped figs. #delicious. 

Picture for extra effect - and so you keep reading. 

Follow my instagram to see these firsthand! @sadienewell


Day 28 - July 6
Lindsay and I spent another wonderful day together, ate another wonderful meal together from the grill, and watched a TON of catfish. YOU GUYS, I'm obsessed with that show! She took me on a walk where I pretended to hate it and not want to walk (which I didn't, so I guess I wasn't pretending) but I did get to see some amazing views. Portland is probably the prettiest city in the world. I say this with the most biased tone ever! Portland is wonderful - where else can you find parks down a CITY STREET with trees this amazing?

This was seriously a quarter mile from Lindsay's house, and the trail we walked went on for at least a mile. It is gorgeous and I am so happy she drug me along! I had a wonderful summery time!


Day 29 - July 7 
Homeward bound. I went back to where it all began: Long Beach, Washington. The place where dreams are made of. The place that makes me who I am, where everything makes sense and I feel peace in my heart. Where anxiety fades and I am surrounded by the people that I love and adore. This trip was hard for a few reasons - namely, all my friends are doing really amazing things with their lives and I am not. I feel like I am unremarkable, and that I need to do more. I'm working on this, but that's a blog for another day. I went home and after debriefing my dad and his lady about this Whole30, they were intrigued and supportive of my choice! We had fresh (and I'm talking, came off my dad's boat and into my mouth in the same day fresh) salmon with asparagus. Delicious. That's my dad. I get my good looks from him, obviously.

Day 30: July 8
It was a day like any other... but no, really, it was. I made my signature breakfast (sweet potatoes and eggs) and totally added salmon. I thought about the things I wanted for the following day. Cream in my coffee, a glass of wine, maybe a chocolate something. But what happened was much worse in a few ways, much better in a few others. This doesn't make much sense right now but I can't tell you until I tell you what happened in my post whole30 glow!

My last breakfast. It was delicious. Salmon is so different when it tastes like butter, and feels like Jesus wrapped you in a hug. I seriously swear I felt sunshine in my belly.

Let's talk about the next part, the ... fallout. 

I'm not one for self-hate these days, but I can really be an idiot sometimes. I read the reintroduction chapter of It Starts With Food. I knew what I had to do. I knew to only do things one at a time, a day between....I knew I shouldn't do whatever I wanted. 

It may be important to tell you I'm a gemini right about now. This is what happened. 

Day One of Poor Life Choices. 

I went to a bar with Madeline. THIS GIRL AND HER BARS. Literally, if you don't want to be irresponsible and drink a ton, don't go anywhere with this girl. She also has a much higher tolerance than me on a regular day, and then add to that my lower-than-normal tolerance and we are all sorts of screwed. Well, I was. At least I looked cute. 

My head also looks much too big for my body. This is something that happened to me years ago. Like, when I was 14. 

This had vodka in it. High fives to the bartender, Eric, ensued. Also names for the local clientele ensued. Sadie was back on the town (and had no idea what was about to happen to her body). 

I woke up the next day feeling LIKE HELL. I had what, 3 drinks over a 6 hour period? I wasn't hungover, let me make that clear. I wasn't vomity, sweaty, unreachable. I was just uncomfortable. My stomach was cramping, I felt like I got ran over, and I was really uncomfortable. Note: not a hangover! Just icky, icky contractions of food and alcohol digesting. If this is what labor feels like, count me out. 

Day Two of Poor Life Choices:

Martinis with my sixth grade literature teacher (no lie), a pseudo-bachelorette party where the apps were delicious, and the rose was sweet. We had shrimp curry and I was very excited to eat rice. In my brain it was a wonderful idea. 

I had zero foods of nutritional value (no, wait, we did go to Walgreens and I found some approved nuts and fruit) and the next day I wanted to die. 

Labor pains is what I'm deeming these feelings. Labor pains forever. 

But wait, I continued. Because apparently I have a deathwish. 

Day Three of Poor Life Choices:

I. Ate. This. A sandwhich. With cream cheese. Cheese. Raisins. Pineapples. Apples. Turkey. Lettuce. And LOTS OF BREAD. 

I felt terrible. And of course I ate the whole thing, which was probably 800 MILLION calories. I was so full and labor pain-ey that I had to lie down in a public place. I'm an embarassment to society. 

These were the highlights of my poor choices. I felt terrible. 

Needless to say, my hey day is over, and although I'm incorporating some more paleo foods and less whole30 foods, I already feel better. Just fantastic! 

I also don't think it's a coincidence that I totally broke out as soon as I stopped eating unprocessed foods. YOU GUYS. IM OVER IT. Homemade LaraBars, dates, and other foods, get in my belly! 

Thank you, readers, for reading my thoughts through this journey. Now that I'm done, I don't know what this blog will turn into, but I'm willing to find out. It won't be over, and it may be where I document my 30 days of something else. I did find that through this, I became more. More aware, happier, more confident. 

Would I recommend this to someone? Absolutely, yes, without a doubt. If you have food issues, unresolved or resolved, looking for a way to get a healthier handle on life, yes. Yes, yes yes yes yes. 

orange is the new black.

Do you think if I eat too many sweet potatoes, I'll turn orange like people do with carrots? 

I hope not. 

This post has nothing to do with the TV show..sorry in advance. But since I got you here, please, keep reading! Let's have a real-life chat about Whole30. Let's just go there, and do it. 

Let's start at the timeline and see where the winds take us. Please keep in mind that I'm quarantined for the next 24 hours as I really DO have strep throat and I have talked to almost everyone I can possibly think of that will text or call me back. So...timeline, Day 12.

Days 12-15: Boundless energy! Now give me a damn Twinkie.

Hurray! The slump is over! Your pants fit again! Your energy levels are better than normal – you’re downright Tigger the bouncing tiger! But something weird is happening. You’re dreaming. Not crazy nightmare or strange surrealist dreams, either. Incredibly normal and realistic dreams – about donuts. Or Twinkies. Or Snickers.* In your mind, sometimes you get caught and feel guilty. Sometimes you just brazenly eat the contraband. But then, the feelings start following you into the waking hours. Suddenly, you’re craving things you don’t even like. (For me, it’s Diet Coke and Twinkies, for Melissa Hartwig, it was fast-food cheeseburgers!) Your co-workers’ heads transform into giant Girl Scout Cookies as you gaze on in disbelief. Seriously, you’ve almost hit the halfway mark, and now this?!

All joking aside, though, this phase gets really intense and for some people. This is the part of the program where our minds try to drive us back to the comfort of the foods we used to know. Our food relationships are deeply rooted and strongly reinforced throughout the course of our lives and breaking through them is really big deal. Journaling can be especially enlightening and helpful during this phase, and helpful for reflection later. Take some time to jot down what you’re craving, how you’re feeling and what tools you’re using to work through the cravings.

- See more here!

Okay people. I've had the cravings, I've had the dreams. None of that is happening right now. I've neglected to put on pants for fear that nothing has happened to me so I can't tell you if those fit or not. I have strep throat, so my energy levels are less than 12, and I haven't worked out on Whole30 because I've been so exhausted. It's actually been, a PHYSICAL nightmare more than emotional.  Don't get me wrong, I'm emotionally attached to food, but I find that emotional detachment works with whatever you apply it to. In this case, I applied it to the foods I liked and I figured out a way to not miss them so much. I still have Gatorade in my fridge, along with Dijon mustard, beer (thanks, Lindsay) and various wines, but I haven't thought of opening them, downing them, or found myself wandering to the kitchen while I should be sleeping. To be frank, I feel adjusted more or less. 

What concerns me is the lack of physical benefits I'm noticing. Since I haven't put on pants it kind of is hard to tell, but I don't think things are fitting better, and I got weighed at the doctors office and the scale hasn't budged (and don't tell me that the scale isn't the be all end all. Old habits die hard). I'm mad. I'm not sleeping better except for that one day which proved to be an anomaly, I don't feel better and I just feel like now I'm stuck in this weird food rut which is only changed from my regular food ruts by about four things. I just can't win. I know I'll feel better and less defeated in a few days, but I would really like to know when I start to feel amazing, start to feel awesome. I'd like to mention here that this is more than a weight thing-  I've been reading a lot of blogs and it seems like everyone is like, "my skin is clear! I am so full of energy! I love my life!" Umm I haven't cheated ONE TIME and I feel like hell, my skin never looked gross and I have zero energy and spend a lot of time napping. Someone please problem solve my life for me. 

Right now, it would be very easy to quit Whole30 and never look back; say it never worked for me. I can't rightfully do that until I go through the whole thing so....18 days to go. 

ONE THIRD!!

You guys, as I sit here, in the throes of day 10, my mind is blown. 

Not only have I actually made it 10 days without cheating, stopping, or getting bored of the foods I'm eating, I've (dare I say?) enjoyed the mental challenge this has made me face. Yesterday was TOUGH. Actually, the last 2 days were tough. I left you at the end of day 8 with a blog about how I couldn't sleep enough. 

Two hours later, I was wondering if I would ever sleep again. I guess my nap was so hardcore that my body decided that it would wait until about 2 am to fall back asleep. Although I was exhausted yesterday, I held out on napping after work, and instead started getting my life in order: cleaning my kitchen, sorting my laundry, etc. Ah, it felt good to be productive! I went to bed last night, read a little in Harry Potter, then passed out. I slept, without waking up, until 5:58 this morning and felt like a brand. new. person. 

I'm too pessimistic to say that the exhaustion is over, but dang, did it feel good to wake up without any aches and pains or tired eyes. The next step is (according to the timeline) the hardest to get over. For the next three days the timeline assumes that I will want to quit. Can I just say, right now, that last night I passed the time by googling Whole30 Failure? Yes, it was helpful in keeping my mind off the no-no cupboard I have, but at the same time, I felt the urge to have a glass of wine, or juice, or anything that wasn't water. Unfortunately for my taste buds, and fortunately for me, I refrained and went to bed instead. I woke up feeling great today, so I'm going to take it as a win! 

Today I'm meeting some out-of-town friends that I haven't seen since their wedding last summer. I am hoping to stay strong and not do anything that kills my hard work - because trust me, this is hard work - but I know in the end it is just up to me to say no.  

Brownies, Wine, and Candy, oh my.

 20 days to go! 

let me take a selfieeeee

Well, the time has come where I've displayed my love of the selfie. Embarrassed? Nahhh, it's all in a days work. 

Today's 100 Happy Days moment is brought to you by Starbucks, the most influential establishment when it comes to my teaching career. I need caffeine.. I NEED CAFFEINE. With Pajama Day being tomorrow...I may need DOUBLE caffeine to function. 

Either way, who doesn't love an americano before 7 am? I definitely do. 

Today's Happy Day: The Starbucks Selfie

Days Left: 95

View Instagram here, or add me @sadienewell!