The Honeymoon

Day 6: Getting the hang of this!!

Happy Saturday, world! I love Saturdays because Hubby is home and gets to spend the morning playing with us and I can drink a cup of coffee while it is almost-sort-of-hot. I love to watch him put on a pirate hat and sword fight with Buggie while I pull and stretch our little world to life in the morning. This partner-thing totally rocks. It’s the absolute best.

Breakfast: Only a few more days left of this breakfast casserole! I brought my other one out of the freezer yesterday and just as I’m starting to get good and sick of it, it’s almost gone.

Lunch: This was one of my very favorite things so far! I threw together some spinach, left-over pork from last night, dried apricots, cashews, avocado, some olive oil and vinegar and it was SO GOOD. Like, delicious.

 

Dinner: We make quesadillas and tostadas regularly in this house, so I knew I was going to have to find some way to substitute the tortillas and taco shells for something else this month. Tonight I made some really yummy cilantro lime shrimp from SkinnyTaste. Here’s the recipe:

 

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/cilantro-lime-shrimp.html

 

 

I served it on tostada shells for the boys with sour cream and guacamole and all that stuff, but for me I sliced up some jicama and squeezed lime all over it and then dusted it with some paprika and there you go! Perfectly yummy “tostadas”. I actually think they were more filling this way. I ate some guacamole also, and it was a delicious alternative to my regular Mexican night!

 

Day 7: Doing great!

I woke up this morning and just could not believe how great I felt! I have so much more energy, even though Squish is still requesting milk two times each night. I didn’t think that food could have this big of an impact on my energy level, but I am so excited to feel more alert and able to make it through the entire day without a nap!

 Breakfast: Only. 3. Days. Left. I can do it. The only reason I haven’t given up on this breakfast already is that I hate to waste food. It’s so pretty. Just eat it.

 Lunch: Buggie has a little virus and Squish is still battling his ear infection, so church is a no-go for us today. I spent the whole morning running around to different grocery stores to stock up for next week, so by the time I got home I was starved! Luckily there was just enough pork left in the fridge to throw together some wraps and chomp on some pretty veggies. It’s such a pretty plate!

 

Dinner: Tonight I threw some salmon filets on the skillet and a couple of sweet potatoes in the oven. I steamed some broccoli and added lemon juice and almonds. It was quick and super easy and delicious! Buggie gobbled up his broccoli and potato, but I had to make him some tilapia because he refuses to eat “pink fish”. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.

 

All my meals are organized and ready for next week! I’m excited and feel inspired to keep this thing up.

 BEGINNING OF WEEK 2!!

Day 8: A day of miracles

 Today was a BIG day in the Shelburne house! A BIG DAY, people! Hubby went down to Texas A&M to defend his dissertation proposal… the whiny and nagging “third child” in this family whom I cannot wait to get rid of and move on from, ifIdosaysomyself. Hubby has been working on his PhD for the last 6 years, 2 of which have been dedicated to this dissertation and all the fun surrounding it. I truly have never seen anyone work so hard on anything in my life. The man is a genius and a perfectionist to the core. He has worked tirelessly and relentlessly on this for a brief eternity and it. was. time. He met before his committee today and they loved it! They cheered him on! They affirmed his hard work! It was one of those days where you wish you could physically throw your arms around Jesus to thank him. We can see the finish line and we are so excited!

Breakfast: I scarfed down my usual as I helped get hubby out the door on time. It wasn’t too boring because I didn’t really taste it at all. It fueled and nourished me enough to hose and sweep out our entire garage. Nervous energy, I guess.

Lunch: Here was Miracle Number 2!! I baked a huge batch of brownies for Hubby’s leadership class that was coming over for dinner, and I looked down at that batter in the bowl that I would normally lick off of my fingers and I didn’t even want it, guys! I didn’t even wish I could have it! I have no idea why, but my sugar cravings are pretty much gone completely. I felt like a superhero. However, my lunch was a strange mixture of left-over meat from the weekend and a cut-up apple with almond butter. Not my best work. But I was busy!

Dinner: Did I mention we were having students over for pizza? Bread? Cheese? Yummy fattening deliciousness? Well we did. And I was totally fine thanks to this big bowl of chili I made before they arrived. I doubled the recipe and froze half for a night when I don’t feel like cooking. Here’s the recipe!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/10/no-bean-turkey-and-sweet-potato-chili.html

Obviously I didn't add the sour cream, but I will when I serve it to the boys!

Day 9:  Confession

So, I know that part of this Whole 30 thing is that you’re not supposed to weigh yourself until the end of the month, but I just HAD to! I wanted to know. And guess what?? I lost 4 pounds last week! Crazy! I know this is about far more than weight loss, (I know people always say that, but they really mean that they want to squeeze back into their college jeans, but I DO actually mean this is about more than that to me… and my college jeans might as well be on another planet because that’s not happening, folks) but it felt good to know that this was making a difference in more than just my energy and overall feelings of wellness.

Breakfast: LAST DAY of casserole Praise Be to God.

Lunch: Left-over turkey chili from last night! I think it was even better today, actually. Maybe that’s because all I had to do was just warm it up and move on.

Dinner: Hubby is out of town tonight so it’s just me, and I had big plans to make something special and pretty and tasty but the truth is I’m wiped out from being on my own all day and I didn’t want to! So I made a “lazy dinner” of scrambled eggs with spinach, an apple and almond butter. Almond butter is quickly becoming my new favorite thing.

 

I feel like I’m in the honeymoon period of this Whole 30 thing. I’m like, “You HAVE to try this!” and “This is so great! I’m feeling amazing!”… I am guessing that the boredom and preparation fatigue will set in at some point, but so far this is definitely one of my favorite little adventures.