Update

Hey y'all! Hope your days havent been as tiring and draining as mine have been. My furbaby's surgery turned out to be more complicated than we thought and her recovery has been rough. Two weeks in, we are still camping out in the living room, taking shifts to watch and help her and giving her medicine according to her schedule. She feels fine, the only problem is that her surgery leg isn't heeled yet and her other one has taken such a beating having to compensate for the past two weeks that it is getting weaker by the day.

We are doing all we can and pretty soon all our post op devices and supplies will probably add up to the same as the surgery costs lol . We are seeing the surgeon again tomorrow and keeping our fingers crossed for a  better report. I am hoping that stitches will come out and that she will be well enough to start getting crated periodically so we can actually get a break.

I keep telling myself that I will get back to what I need as soon as I feel like we are over crisis mode. Because right now, I try to clean up and take care of the house when I get home. For someone who trends OCD at times, living in the family room with mats and rugs scattered over the floor to cover every surface and then with pillows, furniture and baby gates bordering the space to limit her movement area, can make you pretty nuts.

However, I know we are lucky to be able to have the financial means and schedule flexibility to do all we can for her since she is an important family member. I  also know that her situation could be worse and endanger her life, so we are lucky she will recover if not fully close enough to run around with a little limp.

I have been all out of whack with my sleep and my food. The days I have slept the most is at 4-5 hours which making going to work and doing everything else seem like so much trouble. I didn't want to completely sabotage my eating so I have been prepping breakfast and lunch. I bought a huge veggie tray, boiled some eggs, made a quinoa salad and hummus. I am not eating like I should, but at least those two meals are "good enough" for now. I feel an aversion at this point to cooking meat for some reason. Maybe after whole30 burnout? who knows!.

 Dinner is where I drop the ball, simply because I am done by the time I get home. A cold sandwich is easy. Gets it done and over with. There shouldn't be paired with a serving of chips, but most often than not they are.The other day I bought some single frozen meals which I usually stay away from because all of the processed crap just so i could have better portion/calorie control. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either. Just have to keep on pushing, as best as I can! Hope all is well with everyone. Until next time, Stay strong!

Crisis Mode

I have been MIA for the last few days. After finishing up the whole 30 and riding that cloud, a lot of things happened. My furbaby tore her acl and finally had to have surgery this past Monday. It has been rough as heck. I know people disagree and have issues with people seeing their dogs as their kids. But for me, that is one of my babies.
After surgery she has had a rough recovery and still having lots of pain and swelling.
We have been camping out in the living room since then, in order to keep her confined as much as possible. Crating would be best, however she does not fit in there with her cone of shame on...bless her heart!

All the stress and anxiety related to this has had me a little ( read a lot) out of whack. Although I try to make the best choices, I have to admit I have eaten a few things I would rather not have. As in some chips and sandwich for dinner the last few days.Because I have chosen to be lazy and not be bothered cooking. I am so tired working all day and being up with her most of the night ( have slept maybe 3-4 a night since Monday), that I don't feel like cooking by the time I get home. On the bright side,  I did do my weekly meal prep Sunday, so at least breakfast and lunch have continued to be on point. 

All in all, I am aware of my choices but not dwelling on it. I will get back to my rigidness soon enough. I hope all is well with everyone. Until next time!

I finished it!

Woohoo! Yesterday was the official ending of my whole 30. It was a great challenge for me because it helped me cement some of the things that I was already trying to make part of my food template but also realize that I shouldn't try to over complicate things in order to continue my journey to health successfully.

 Although my skin is better, I think its become obvious to me that my breakouts are probably 95% hormonal and not diet related. I already had that suspicion. The sugar abstinence was not as hard as giving up hummus and the occasional bread. As I go back to planning out my food template, I think that i will abstain from reintroducing sugar and for sure not making coke zero another food group lol 

 Y'all know that I am very much a meal prep advocate. For someone like me, who has a hard time making better choices without a pre set plan, meal prepping is a way to have no excuse to not eat right. The 2-3 hours a week I invest doing so, are so worth being able to grab and go every day. I found some meal prep containers on amazon that seemed like a great choice. Because of the same size, they would be able to be stacked in the fridge and therefore optimize my shelf space. I ordered a ten pack to give it a try and I am in love!! 

 I have realized that I could probably fit 12 trays which would be 6 days worth of breakfast and lunch.

 After using them for a week I think they are great. Yes, they could stand to be a tad thicker because that might could make them last longer but i feel like for that price its not such a problem for me. I should get at least 3 good months out of them. 

 I am working this weekend and looking forward to catching up with blogs during my downtime. Have a great weekend!

ETA: In my rush and excitement I totally forgot to mention that I stepped on the scale this morning and saw a 6 pound loss in 30 days! I also have noticed a difference in my shape especially around my tummy and thighs. My pants are fitting so much nicer!

Back to Work

It is Sunday and my mini holiday is over! I got so much done at home but at the same time got some much needed rest in. We did a thorough cleaning of the house which always makes me so so happy. We got some more clutter gone which resulted in several bags full of clothes and other knick knacks ready to be donated. I tried to be as unplugged as I could as well. I enjoyed reading and listening to music.Our usual group was out of town so my roomie and I didn't really have or made other plans. I cooked compliant hotdogs and burgers on the grill. I used lettuce for mine, buns for hers. Caught up on my shows and pretty much had some relaxed and stress free couple of days. I stayed good on the whole 30 but didn't worry about having to take a pic of everything I ate. Last night I got some meal prepping in so that I will be ready to tackle the week. I ordered some meal prep containers from amazon so I am happy/excited about the meal prepping to come ( doesn't take much to make me happy! haha). Today, I am back at work and ready to dive right back into my usual routine. I anticipate the next couple of weeks will be extremely busy but I feel my batteries have been somewhat recharged by the last couple of days. I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend! Until next time!

Day 21 & 22

I made it to day 22!! It is so exciting to know I have succeeded so far. I am very happy with how I feel and although I haven't stepped on the scale as instructed I know I have lost weight. I think somehow some of the fat has to have moved as my tummy is a lil less round. 

People have actually noticed a new drop and I feel like my face looks a lot less puffy and round. Yay for the cosmetic stuff but the inside and the healthier I feel is even better.

As I come to the final stretch I am starting to think that o will probably follow a similar food template once I am done. My body seems to do best this way and there's a lot of junk I for sure do not want to reintroduce.

Here's my food for the last two days:

Breakfast was rushed so I had a repeat of banana and almond butter.

Lunch: grilled veggies and chicken Apple sausage.

Dinner: spinach omelet and beef patty. Not pictured was some watermelon.

Breakfast: sautéed green and yellow squash, sweet potato and a chicken Apple sausage.

Lunch: was a repeat from dinner the day before with a spinach omelet and beef patty. Not pictured were some yummy grape tomatoes.

Dinner: beef cooked in ghee, sautéed green and yellow squash and sweet potato.

I have another garden update for y'all!

Big mama and baby cucumbers. That big one is a tad longer than a half liter water bottle!!

Also got the fist beefsteak tomato, a couple of apples and a fig!!! Homegrown food tastes so good! And it's great knowing that no pesticides or anything messed them up :)

I am off the next couple of days and looking forward to it. Until next time!'n