Reintro Day 7

Well - I think I am on the mend. I slept fairly well last night, though I am guessing that from being all stuffed up that I was probably snoring - Mr. P. moved to the guest room some time during the night. Oops. Things should be back to normal in a couple of days.

My eyes are still a watery mess, but I'm not 100% stuffed up. I managed to get myself dressed and run to Super Target to do some grocery shopping. I rarely go there to shop, but there was no way I was going to venture to BJs and Aldi and Publix. Not quite up to that task just yet. It took way longer than it should have to get what I got, BUT - I ran into my brother's family there so I got to see my little sunshine birthday girl. 

I scored some great deals too - they had grass-fed ground beef marked down $3 off - and it was already on sale. So I got $7.49/lb for $3.49/lb. I got a roast that was also $3 off, a whole chicken for $3 off and a couple of packs of chicken tenders $2 off each. They also had a mobile coupon for $5/$25 in meat/seafood. Cha-ching! They also had the organic eggs marked down to $2/dozen (regularly $4.89) - I got 3 dozen and they were an additional 5% off with Cartwheel. Pretty much everything I picked up ended up having a Cartwheel deal and in the end I got 5% off all of it with my Target RedCard debit card. 

Not that I'm keeping track (ha ha) but -17 pounds this morning - 37 days. Not bad for not dieting. 

It's 2:30pm as I write this post and the only thing I have had to eat today is half a leftover white grape juice pop and a Larabar.

I tossed a bunch of chicken in the crock this morning - with chicken stock, carrots and some leftover chopped onion. The house smelled divine when I came in from Target...and that's with a stuffy nose! 

I also found a compliant chicken stock at Target! Pretty sure it was my reward for getting my arse out of the house. 

I'm going to make some skillet potatoes for lunch and then I'll get to work on packing lunches for the week. I portioned out black olives for Mr. P. yesterday - and I got him a jar of compliant sauerkraut today (go figure the jar I bought just before we started all of this has white wine in it. Really?!) I wonder if he's tired of hot dogs and sauerkraut with olives and fruit every day? Yesterday I noticed his weight loss. He put on a t-shirt that was an XL and it fit. He typically goes for the XXL because so many are "slim fit" these days.

Mr. P. has been working all weekend and been all over town to do it. Luckily I caught him before he was in Dr. Phillips so I could get him to run into Whole Foods.  We are about out of Coconut Aminos. Well...I guess I wasn't specific enough when I said it was in the condiment section, has a palm tree on the label and a gold wrapper over the cap. He came home with the same bottle only with a red wrapper and while it does say Coconut Aminos, it also says Teriyaki Sauce. At least it seems to be compliant.  I guess I will order the huge jug on Amazon. It's the only way it's affordable. Seriously - this is like the one product that I can get cheaper at a local health food store. Except that we don't really have one nearby. We used to have a Chamberlains, but it went away. I did hear that they are moving back though. Although no idea where - it might not be convenient either. 

Well - I forgot to take a picture of dinner. Sorry! Since Mr. P. bought teriyaki sauce, I used some of my awesome deal chicken tenders and half a can of pineapple chunks to make a teriyaki chicken dish - served it over zoodles. Huge plus - ONE PAN. Dirtied 2 plates, 2 forks, 1 knife, a spatula and a pan. WOO HOO! 

Reintro Day 6

My eyes won't stop watering - literally tears streaming down my face. The coughing is horrible. The congestion is wicked. 

I have taken allergy medication, Mucinex DM, DayQuil, NyQuil...none of it works. None of it even helps a little bit.

Today I am exhausted. I got up at 4am because of the coughing. Mr. P. has to work all weekend so I didn't want to keep him up all night. I got up and tried to sleep sitting up on the couch (to keep my nose cleared up) and gave up. Spent almost 2 hours sitting at the computer playing mindless games and drinking hot apple juice.

Eventually went back to bed just before Mr. P. got up. Immediately started coughing.

When I got up, I wasn't particularly hungry...but I made some sweet potato Yukon Gold hash with salt, pepper and paprika. Then I ate half a white grape juice pop. The silicone molds I have are pretty big. Then I remembered it's DAIRY DAY!  I might make a cheese omelet for lunch. 

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. Tossed a load of laundry in...so much to do, but my head feels like it's going to explode so I prefer to just sit somewhere and be miserable vs. get up and do stuff and be extra miserable.

I noticed I am very burp-y the last two day. Not sure if it's from the La Croix sparkling water or  breathing thru my mouth and this damn cold.

Today also happens to be my little sweetpea's 5th birthday! I can't believe that tiny little baby girl is 5 years old. She's super smart, extra spunky and is (usually) the sweetest little - well not so little - girl. Her party was held at a small local chocolate place and the kids got to make their own candy.

I never got around to the cheese omelet. Wasn't really hungry and didn't have the energy to do it. I did eat 2 cheese sticks. 

Mr. Paisley went out and got us Freddy's for dinner. I had a triple steakburger with cheese (hold the bun and no condiments), we split a large order of fries (they're shoestring fries and they were extra salty so I only ate a few - I'm not a big fan of salt - even though I constantly buy fancy varieties) and since it's DAIRY DAY - we got vanilla frozen custard. It was delicious - probably would have been to die for if I could have actually tasted it. I also had half a can of La Croix with some apple juice.

So far so good - no tummy troubles. Thank God - I love cheese. And ice cream. And cheese...all kinds of cheese. Did I mention I love cheese?
  

Reintroduction Day 5

It's Day 5 and we're back to the Whole30 eating today and tomorrow. If memory serves me...we get DAIRY on Saturday and they suggest ICE CREAM! I am so jumping on that wagon. I really want that right now...stupid sore throat!

Woke up still sick this morning. One eye was glued shut, my mouth was bone dry and my nose was crusty and stuffed up. Oh and my throat still hurts. I woke up 30 minutes before my 6am alarm. I didn't even try to go back to sleep. I got up and hit the shower on full steam to try to clear out my nose and pry my eye open. I washed my hair with Wen Winter Vanilla Mint which not only has a nice tingle, but the mint helped open up my nose as well. That said, I don't really feel any better. I can barely speak and I've already slowly sipped a full 24oz Tervis full of water to try and soothe my throat. It works...as long as I just keep drinking. I've been googling Whole30 remedies for sore throats. They're all over the map. I'm kind of thinking that technically I'm well past the 30 days so I might very well cave and make hot tea with honey. Plus down a glass of hot water and apple cider vinegar. Yum (not...) and gargle with lemon salt water (also yum...no, not really). I'm also starving. I don't think I've gotten up and had my stomach rumbling and growling at me since I started. I think I'm going to make scrambled eggs with my sandwich steak this morning.

My throat is starting to feel a bit better. I did have my hot tea and honey - though I didn't finish the whole mug...really only about half. I did have scrambled eggs and sandwich steak for breakfast and for lunch I had a couple more sandwich steaks and a bowl of fried (?) plantains. They were ok, but not the greatest. I doubt Mr. P. would like them and they're a bit pricey $6.99 a bag at Aldi - they are name brand though. I don't think I'll buy them again.

I managed to unload the dishwasher and reload it - surprise, it's full again. I hate to use paper products when there's no need for it, but the never ending dishes waiting to be done is ridiculous. Although really...all it would save is 2 dinner plates so I guess there isn't much point to using paper plates to try to make less dishes.

Later that day....

I spent 30 minutes in the hot tub - then I got rained on. The heat cleared up my nose for a little while. My throat has stopped hurting, however my mouth is dry because I can't breathe thru my nose. While I was napping it dawned on me that I should freeze some juice in my freezer pop molds. DUH. Why the heck didn't I think of that yesterday?! I have 2 white grape juice pops in the freezer right now. Can't wait to have one! I also made an appointment for Kahlua. She's my only lizard that doesn't freak out about going to the V-E-T.  I'll take her to work with me tomorrow and stop on the way home.  We think she might be gravid. Because she had metabolic bone disease laying eggs will be difficult for her. She can't use one of her back legs because it's fused at the hip socket (it was broken and not treated by a former owner), her hips are really narrow, and her spine is crooked - all from poor diet and lack of proper care. She's the sweetest thing for having such a crappy life pre-Paisley Cottage.

Confession. I couldn't wait on my pops to freeze. I ate an old orange freezer pop from last Memorial Day. Full of sugar. I won't eat another one, but it was so nice...the juice ones will be even better!

Dinner was a thrown together stir fry. Coconut aminos, salad shrimp, assorted leftover veggies from the week, zoodles, cabbage and cashews. I added spicy cashew sauce to mine. Also had a cranberry apple La Croix sparkling water mixed with some cranberry pomegranate juice.

Reintro Day 4

Day 4 of Reintroduction! Today we got to have non-gluten grains.  So we were going to have rice and corn, but...we ended up skipping the rice. I was going to do oatmeal for breakfast but then I realized that I make it with brown sugar and I usually top it with a splash of heavy whipping cream - so that didn't happen either.

I was super excited about corn - not because I missed it but damn I'm tired of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and sugar snap peas. Squash and zucchini prices here are through the roof right now. Asparagus is only slightly better. I don't care for either cooked from frozen, so fresh or nothing for that. Green beans I just haven't been to Publix to restock.

Mr. P. is hanging in there. He's down 15 pounds and I'm down 13. That's according to our scale - which is probably fairly accurate for him because he's been using it, even though it wasn't working for awhile. Who know on mine. A few more weeks and we'll see.

So for breakfast I went with the usual. Again I overcooked the eggs, but not as bad. They were mostly edible.

Lunch was chicken salad and a Larabar.

I ended up going home from work around 2:15 because I'm sick! WTH?! First it's very, very rare that I get sick. Second, 30+ days of REAL, WHOLE, SUPER NUTRITIOUS FOOD and I end up sick? I woke up with a sore throat, figured with the temps bouncing all over the map here in Florida it was having the fan and AC back on (seriously, it's been 85 degrees the last 2 days and now we're back to 60s and 70s for a while). Well - not the case. By noon it hadn't gone away and while it was 76 degrees in the office I was fine, then freezing, fine, then freezing. Totally felt like I had a fever. So I went home. According to my digital thermometer I was below normal (which is normal for me). I couldn't deal with the sore throat any longer, so I popped 2 DayQuil liquid gel and hoped for some relief. Didn't help. I wanted hot tea with honey, but we aren't to the sugar point yet. I found some sugar free Halls drops and went for it, even though they have both soy and artificial sweetener. It was wonderful...until it was done dissolving and we were back to square one. I tried to nap - right after I finally fell asleep the same wrong number that called me yesterday on my cell phone called AGAIN. So I got up and laid on the couch and watched a show on Tiny Houses.

When Mr. P. got home he made some guacamole to go with organic corn tortillas he picked up. So I had some of those - they were yummy. Then he made dinner.

Sauteed Pork Chops with Vinegar and Rosemary, corn and the usual vegetable mix. 

    
Before bed I also had 2 spoonfuls of Yacon Syrup hoping it would sort of stick long enough for me to get to sleep. No such luck. At least it's natural sugar.

Reintro Day 3!

Today I slept thru my alarm. And with my new phone, the built in alarm clock apparently doesn't automatically snooze, because it hasn't gone off SINCE. WTH?!

I should have known that was going to lead into a crappy day...and it's only 8am. 

I overcooked my eggs and sandwich steak. The steak was still good, reminded me of how I like my Steak n Shake burgers "well done" so they're crispy around the edges. The eggs though...I pretty much only ate the over hard yolks. 

I think my trusty iMac is also on the way out. I think the hard drive is making noise. If I whack the front of the monitor near the apple logo the noise stops, but only for a few minutes. Needless to say I made sure Time Machine was backing up every hour.

I admit that I'm due for a new computer. This one has to be 5 years old...if not a little older. It's from before they got really thin. I wouldn't mind that upgrade - though I have said a million times that I'll never buy another Mac. This was my first and last. 

On that note - it's now 8:09am and I should have left the house by 8. I'm not dressed for work, no make-up and my lunch isn't packed. Actually it's not even made to be packed. 

I'm tempted to call in.


OH! The good news is that my knee seems to be fine! It hasn't hurt at all since I got up AND I haven't taken any pain pills (aka Aleve) or anything. I am going to toss my turmeric in my bag though and go back to taking those daily. Just in case. I also hopped on the scale again this morning. If it shows another pound + gone. I decided not to go to the doctor's office to get weighed. Motivation to stay on track through February. Go me!

Breakfast - overhard egg yolks and overcooked sandwich steak. Yum...

Lunch - can of pineapple chunks*, a Larabar and chicken salad. 

Snack - organic unsweetened applesauce

Dinner - blackend Mahi Mahi with avocado and (clarified) buttered mushrooms plus a side of asparagus. Delicious!

My day only got slightly better after leaving. I did actually get to work by 9 so I worked my old schedule since I was 30 minutes late. Good thing my boss doesn't care!  However, upon leaving I realized we were still under a Dense Fog Advisory. It was crazy! I think a lot of folks stayed home because of it, as there wasn't much traffic. 

*TMI - but hey...this is when we learn things about our bodies and food. That's why we are doing this Whole30. The pineapple had a not so pleasant "went right thru me" experience. I found that odd as I've been eating pineapple all along. I love pineapple. I don't know if it was the quantity or what, but I have 5 more cans, so I guess I will find out!
 

Reintrocduction Day 2

It's reintro day 2 - nothing to see here. Today and tomorrow will both be back on the regular Whole30 diet to see if we have any unpleasant reactions to having legumes. I'm not expecting any...

Breakfast - 3 eggs over medium, 2 sandwich steaks.

Larabar for a snack.

Lunch - Outback! Medium sirloin, mixed veggies and a sweet potato - all plain. I forgot my clarified butter and pumpkin pie spice in my lunch back, so I did get cinnamon for the potato. I also ate my chicken salad in the afternoon.

Dinner - Balsamic Pork Chops with Rosemary. Compliments of my favorite Northern grocery store - Wegmans! Plus a side of the usual mixed vegetable blend - carrots, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, broccoli...

The pork was delicious. I clearly ate way more than I should have today, but I was actually hungry when I ate. It wasn't out of boredom. I had plenty of work to keep me busy at the office today.

My lunch buddy "made" me go for a walk with her. Against my better judgement I went for one lap. In a maxi dress and flats. Just as we were coming around the corner to my "exit" at the end of that lap my right knee popped. It was a rather sharp pain. I tried to walk it off and limped back to my desk where I didn't move the rest of the day. I did bend and straight it a few times and it hurt each and every one of them. When I got up to leave I got the same sharp pain and limped on out the door. Halfway to the Jeep it seemed ok. It hurt like a when I got into the Jeep. It hurt (though not as sharply) just pivoting my foot between the gas and the brake. Not cool. I limped my way to the front door. Hopefully it'll be fine tomorrow. I'll be busting on the arnica gel and taking my turmeric pills again for a while. Those are two things my herbalist put me one for a previous knee injury (I stepped on the mat outside the shower and it slid while my other foot was still firmly planted in the shower - you never think it's going to happen to you! This was one of those memory foam mats that had a rubber backing on it, but it just wouldn't grip on my tile floor so it went in the wash and off to Goodwill!) I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but it's the other knee this time. I guess we'll see what happens.

Against my better judgement, I stepped on the scale this morning. The house scale hasn't been working, but it worked and seemed to be relatively accurate. It showed 10 pounds less than what I was at the doctor's office. I'm sure their scale is WAAAAAY more accurate, so I'm going to try to pop in tomorrow and see if I can hop on their scale to get an accurate reading.  The last time I used our scale it was off by 50+ pounds. So I'm taking that 10 pound loss with a grain of salt for now.

I'm not 100% sure I want to get on their scale though. My appointment is in March. I'm leaning toward NOT being weighed until then - more as a motivation factor for not wanting to disappoint the doctor, plus that's another month for me to really enforce the habits (or routine...) that I've gotten used to over the past 30+ days.

I have to get all my blood work done again at the end of February - 2 weeks before my appointment - so it will be interesting to see what, if any, changes there are there.

I saw a picture of myself back before Christmas. I can only say that I'm more than a little mortified. Oh and I can TOTALLY see a difference in my face. That picture will not see the light of day until I'm at a point where I am comfortable taking an "after" shot.

Reintroduction Day 1

Well...we haven't really done anything different. LOL

We went to breakfast at the mom and pop home cookin' place again. No steaks on the breakfast menu today. So we improvised. We both had a 4oz burger patty, 2 eggs over medium, home fries (plain/done on the grill) and water. It was crazy busy for some reason this morning.

After that we went to BJ's and topped off my Jeep (still $1.65!) and Mr. P. ran down to Home Depot again while I went in and grabbed a few things. This week it really was only a few things LOL.  They had a coupon for $4.50 of the Tyson 10lb bag of boneless, skinless chicken boobs. Yep - not on my list, but they went in my cart! And the coupons are good thru mid-February, so I will be stocking up with 10lbs of chicken every week. They also had a coupon for $2 off 3lb of Land O' Lakes butter - which made it cheaper than the house brand. Grabbed another 4 pack of sparkling apple juice, a box of sandwich steaks and a bag of sirloin burgers. I almost bought those last week, but this week they had a clipless coupon for $4 off (last week it was only $2 off). I also grabbed a 2 pack of Northland Cran-Pom juice (100%) since it had a clipless coupon and a bag of organic Fuji apples.

After that we went to Aldi. Picked up 3 dozen eggs, a package of summer squash (holy crow the produce problems are starting to hit the prices here - last week they were under $2, this week they were almost $4). 3 avocados ($.39!), bananas, frozen cooked plantains, some button mushrooms, asparagus, baking potatoes and an 8 pack of Apple Cranberry LaCroix. 

Relatively cheap week of shopping.

I warmed up the leftover scallops and shrimp for a late afternoon snack and topped it with a big dollop of my spicy cashew sauce. Then I did more dishes...and threw chicken in the crock pot to make my chicken salad this week.

Oh I also picked up a 5 pack of sandwich size BPA free containers at Aldi so I can put lunch stuff together for Mr. P. since he doesn't do it. He's working late this week and his lazy "grab 2 apples and a banana" lunch is not going to cut it. I already portioned out 2 cans of black olives into 5 small containers so he can grab and go in the morning. I'm going to put 2 hot dogs (Applegate Farms) and sauerkraut in the sandwich containers and he can just take the mustard bottle with him. I'm not a fan of regular yellow mustard.

Dinner was 1 1/2 sirloin burger patties, DIFFERENT mixed veggie blend (zucchini, lima beans, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots) and avocado slices. The burgers were good - haven't had them before, but they cook in 12 minutes from frozen so they will be a great quick meal to have on hand.