Whole 30-ish: Week 1

6/15: I had a pretty good first day.  After a week of binge drinking and eating (regrettable to say the least), it was nice to go into Monday with a focus and plan of healthy eating.

Breakfast: I made a bunch of food last week that I wanted to try and finish early this week, even though it wasn't exactly Whole 30 compliant.  I had half a piece of egg bake this morning (egg whites, pesto, cherry tomatoes, spinach and feta) and it made me a little sick to my stomach so I decided to pass on the rest of those leftovers (I gave them to my neighbor so they didn't go to waste).  I stopped at Lunds & Byerlys on my way to work and grabbed a TRUE Juice for breakfast.  The Whole 30 founders would prefer you to not drink your meals but it was full of fruits and veggies with no added sugar and was tasty.
Snack: I had my last Justin's Almond Butter packet that was hiding in my snack drawer- this wasn't compliant either due to the honey powder containing sugar but I wasn't too concerned about it today.
Lunch: Brussels sprouts and bacon.
Snack: 3 slices of roast beef
Dinner: I made my last Plated meal of mashed yuca and marinated skirt steak served with berries!  It was an imperfect start but a start nonetheless.

6/16: I felt good about life and Whole 30 today.  Determined.  Excited.

Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled, a couple pineapple spears and some thai curry basil Terra chips that I found on top of my fridge.  They were kind of stale and chips are a little against the Whole 30 rules but I felt okay about it since I wasn't eating them straight out of the bag.
Lunch: A delicious bratwurst that I found at the co-op, roasted farmer's market asparagus and strawberries (Target had a fantastic sale on them this weekend that I am so glad I took advantage of).
Dinner: I was going to make this green sauce but then I realized the blender had been removed from my house as part of my roommates moving out so I ended up smashing an avocado with some garlic paste that I made, half a chopped jalapeno and some olive oil to make a delicious dip for some baked sweet potato fries.
After dinner (and after I had already brushed my teeth): I enjoyed juice of a granny smith apple, a pineapple spear or two and a bunch of strawberries.

6/17: I decided today to do "Whole 30-ish" due to upcoming life plans that will be hard for me to do following this in the strict way it is meant to be followed.  Basically I plan to keep doing what I'm doing and only make a few allowances.  I know once you go off plan you should start over which is why I've decided not to count the days of my Whole 30, just see how long I can keep this good behavior going.

Breakfast: Egg fried in ghee, bratwurst, handful of pistachios
Lunch: Leftover yuca and steak, strawberries (of course)
Dinner: Zoodles (zucchini noodles) in a lemon-garlic "scampi-esque" sauce with shrimp
After dinner: I had this trail mix from Whole Foods that I thought I couldn't eat- turns out I just had to pick out the cranberries and cherries (dried with added sugar) and the rest was okay so that was a nice treat.

6/18: Starting yesterday, I set my alarm to wake up a half hour earlier than I have been recently so I have time to make breakfast.  This morning I was tired when I got up but managed to not snooze my alarm for another 15 minutes (like I have been doing pretty much every day for the past month then feel rushed trying to get ready for work).  I even scheduled in 15 minutes of cuddle time with Marvel so he doesn't throw off my morning routine anymore.

Breakfast: Eggs baked in avocado, blueberries
Lunch: Tuna salad- tuna in water and no vegetable broth (which contains soy) is hard to find but I did it, "Just Mayo" which I think is Whole 30 compliant and I found it at Target a while back, lemon juice, a chopped celery stalk, dill and garlic salt.  It was tart, filling and delicious.  I also had carrot chips with a guacamole cup
Dinner (I guess): I bought the Kevita probiotic drink at Whole Foods to try and avoid drinking at a brewery later- it tasted like a mojito and was so good!  I also had some grapes and some almonds.  I did end up at the brewery drinking a beer (whoops) but by the time I got home I realized I hadn't really eaten dinner and I wasn't that hungry.  So I consider that a success.

6/19:  One of my coworkers mentioned today how she had a delicious strawberry salad at a restaurant for lunch.  I had strawberries at home that needed to be eaten!  So I grabbed some spinach on the way home and made a most delicious salad for dinner

Breakfast: Bratwurst, banana with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon
Lunch: Leftover yuca, asparagus and skirt steak
Dinner: Spinach, avocado and strawberry salad with pecans and a peach-white vinegar dressing, grapes

6/20: I ate my last brat from the co-op today.  I'm definitely going to buy more because they are DELICIOUS.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (2) with Alaskan smoked salmon
Lunch: Angus beef burger, fried egg, 1/2 avocado with Fiesta party dip, grapes
Snack: Banana with almond butter, strawberry-spinach juice
Dinner: Carrot chips with avocado dip, bratwurst

6/21: So I went a little off plan today.  It is Father's Day and I told my dad I would eat whatever he wanted.  So we went to the 5-8 Tavern after church and I had a Juicy Lucy, which I was actually craving all weekend.  I ate it without the bun though so that's gotta count for something, right?  Just kidding.  The good news is that it didn't taste that great so I don't know if it was just an off day in the kitchen or if I really just didn't like it... I also had some peanut butter today but it was Justin's so at least it wasn't totally full of crap like the generic brand of PB I have in a jar in my cabinet. 

Breakfast: Naked Green juice
Lunch: Juicy Lucy and Fries...
Dinner: Citrus-marinated grilled chicken, avocado and raspberries
Snack: Celery with Justin's honey-peanut butter

#54: My life since September

So it's been a while since my last post...and looking back at my most recent posts, I realize that I haven't really said much about the big changes that have gone on in my life. So for anyone who cares at all, here we go.

On October 31, 2014, I brought cupcakes to Twin Cities Orthopedics for my final staff potluck.  Halloween was my last day working at TCO because I got a job at St. Catherine University!  I can't believe I didn't post about this already... anyway, its been 7 months at St. Kate's and I love it.  I very specifically remember visiting St. Kate's (then the College of St. Catherine, we didn't become a university until 2009) during a very stormy afternoon in the summer with my mom and Liz.  Tree branches were down on our way to campus.  The sky was green.  I just remember walking through the Coeur de Catherine (student center) with its window lined wall looking out at the horrible weather.  Obviously, I did not choose to attend St. Kate's (nor do I think I even applied) and I ended up falling in love with St. Mary's University.  It is interesting to look at these two schools now and see the major differences between the two Catholic institutions- I was nervous and felt a little forced about the thought of chapel and the Catholic history at St. Mary's but I definitely do not feel that vibe here at St. Kate's.  At the time of my school search, I also did not understand the appeal of a women's college.  Now that I'm on campus, I love it.  This is such an encouraging and supportive environment- everyone here from the students I have met to the faculty to the staff are so freaking nice.  I work in the office of graduate admission with 10 women and 1 man.  It is such a shift from my previous work-life that it is hard to explain.  While I do sometimes miss the antics and unpredictability of crazy patients, it is nice to have a job where I don't get yelled at on a regular basis.

My job is to work with admissions for a couple grad programs.  I was originally hired just for the Master of Social Work program.  Then a coworker quit and I needed more to do so I acquired the Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy Doctorate programs.  Then I still needed more to do so I took on the Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies in Communication Equity (its a mouthful) when the program came into existence this month.  I sign up for and track travel and recruitment events.  I plan 8 graduate information sessions for all our programs throughout the year.  This is really such an interesting job- I honestly was set on undergraduate admission but after working the past few months with graduate admission, I can easily say I'm happy to be here.  Graduate students want to be here.  They want to do the work, they want to be part of our programs- it is interesting to see the differences between my programs and the people who are applying to them.  So this has been quite a good experience thus far AND they're sending me to Vegas next month for a professional conference so I can't complain.

I turned 27 in January- Trudy and I had a 90s themed birthday party where we went to a few bars in NE Minneapolis.  It was a fun night- I now own a neon green fanny pack that I almost took out for a run yesterday (and might still as it is very convenient!).

In March I started going out on dates with this nice guy named Matt who I met on Tinder, believe it or not.  He is the 4th person named Matt that I have been out with in the past year and I find that to be amusing but also not surprising since it was a popular name back in the late 80s.  He's the best Matt, that's for sure.  So when I made the new year of life resolution to "ditch the dating websites" I did for a while but then got bored and re-downloaded Tinder.  I'm pretty glad that I did.  We've been "Facebook official" since the end of April.  We are heading to Summerfest in Milwaukee next week to see one of his favorite bands, Sloan.  He's almost as bad at golf as I am.  He is slightly allergic to cats but doesn't seem to mind coming over to my house.  He's tall and cute and I like him a lot.  So that's a plus.

Trudy moved out of our townhouse this past weekend.  She had been slowly moving boxes and things out but when I got back from working at VB on Saturday, her food shelf in the kitchen was cleared off and her mail holder was gone and I suddenly realized that she was officially leaving me.  She slept over Saturday night after a party with our neighbors and took Landshark with her on Sunday.  I think I'm projecting sadness and confusion onto Marvel- he's a cat, I'm sure he's fine.  But I bet he misses his friend... he's only ever lived at our house with Landshark.  Luckily, she's coming back for the 4th of July weekend and then I think I'm going to foster when I get back from Vegas.  So he'll have friends again.  Also I miss Trudy but she can drive and has a key to our house so I know I'll be seeing her still.

I decided to start the Whole 30 again as of yesterday (so be prepared for more blogging about what I'm eating).  Sure the Whole 30 is restrictive and I think it did me more harm than good last year when I did it but I need rules and strict guidelines in order to make any lifestyle changes and that's what the Whole 30 does for me.  Here's hoping that this time around I actually get more energy like it promises (didn't happen last time) and I lose some weight (I'm also going to start working out again).  I am frustrated in myself because this time last year, I looked and felt GOOD.  So the good news is that Matt likes me like this (but he also hasn't known my skinnier self).  The bad news is that I'm sick of this weight I've gained and being lazy and losing that awesome feeling I had last year.  So it is back to the grind for me.  I signed up for a 5K in September that I actually plan to RUN (or at least jog fast) so I need to train for that.  I started and had a good two weeks of going to the gym and hopping on the treadmill but my knees are bad and I lost my motivation pretty fast.  I'm also doing a 16-mile bike ride with my dad in August that I did last year when I was still relatively fit so if I don't get my act together, I'll never make it up the ridiculously steep hill like I did last year.  My former trainer at LA Fitness told me we should meet up to lift at our current gym, Anytime Fitness, just as friends so I'm excited about that.  And Anytime is awesome because you can literally go to workout at ANY TIME.  I went a couple weeks ago at 10:30 and was the only person in there but it was great and only a little creepy. 

Anyway, here's a few other things I did so far in this first HALF of 2015:
* Had brunch at Pizza Luce for our birthdays and Trudy and I wore the same dress because we're cute like that
* Knocked a bunch more breweries off my list!
* Got Liz to try and ENJOY alcohol (Minneapolis Mule at Tavern on France- turns out she likes whiskey)
* Went on a North Shore brewery tour with Maggie and my friends at Get Knit
* Baked cupcakes for orders even though I said I was going to quit baking cupcakes for orders
* Saw the movie Jupiter Ascending two nights in a row even though it was really not a good movie
* Went to two TCO clinic openings (for free food and giveaways, obviously)
* Wore lipstick for a couple of occasions.  I don't do that often but it is quite a confidence booster!
* Learned the magic of a puffle- puff pastry stuffed with things and cooked in a waffle iron
* Attended my first college fair representing St. Kate's by myself!
* Started giving the all-grad presentation to the full group of people who attend our info sessions (usually between 75 and 150 people)
* Discovered my love for iced chai tea (and unfortunately learned how many calories and how much sugar are in such a beverage)
* Took a BUNCH of cute selfies
* Attended a men's roller derby bout
* Went out for two bachelorette parties
* Saw Andy Grammer in concert with Nina.  We'll be seeing him again this summer at the fair!
* Went for an actual run with my dog
* Toured St. Paul breweries with Maggie and Becky on the Brews & Buses adventure with Get Knit
* Went to the Twins home opener with my girl Christina
* Took a million pictures of the cats
* Did some home improvement projects like painting a chalkboard wall and hanging shelves for the cats (two of which fell off the wall, one of which Marvel was sitting on when it happened)
* Celebrated the love of Erin and Kyle and made a bunch of new friends at the reception
* Took photo booth pictures in a VW van turned into a photo booth.  Real life, people.
* Volunteered for a residence life conference at NDSU over Memorial Day weekend
* Threw Liz an epic 25th birthday party where we marathon-watched Avatar the Last Airbender for 3 days
* Saw the International Space Station in the sky
* Took Marvel outside on a leash multiple times.  Big mistake as now he wants to go outside all the time.  Oh well.
* Watched the Twins get beaten by the Brewers (who were the worst team in their league at the time) but it was okay because it pleased my boyfriend and made for an extra special birthday (but secretly it is very upsetting that we lost... two games in a row)
* Started watching The West Wing on Netflix- it is probably one of the best shows that was ever on TV and I'm only on season 2. 
(this started as a list of just a few things but I've been busy so it turned into more than a few... #sorrynotsorry)