It was bound to happen; life got in the way of my blogging. Luckily, I have good news to report. I have been doing great on my food and have been to several holiday events and not eaten anything off program. I have done some smell checks on some baked goods, but that is about it. I am so happy with this new confidence around food especially during peak yummy food season.
The biggest thing that has happened in the past few days is that I had a dog behaviorist come to the house to work with me...and the dogs. For those of you who don't know, shortly after getting Jack, we were on a walk and he was attacked by another dog and has been fear aggressive ever since. I have been to dog trainers in the past but they have never been able to help me with this problem. The dog behaviorist I am now working with comes highly recommended. He specializes in aggression so it is a perfect fit. He worked with me for two+ hours and then we got Jack out and worked with him for 30-45 minutes. It was like I had a new dog!! I am not comfortable in my response time to start working with Jack and other dogs yet, but I am sure I will be ready by next week. It is amazing how they listen and respect me know. There is no walking ahead of me anymore while on walks. I am so happy!!! I am so excited for the days when we can take long walks past other dogs and not have it be an issue.
I will be posting about our progress as well as my Whole30 journey. I am so happy for the future :)
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Day 17
Today was much more eventful than the day before. I worked out with my personal trainer and got my ass handed to me as usual. I got home to find the pest control person already at my house. I am fighting a losing battle with spiders in my house. He told me that they were coming from my air conditioning closet. There is no ceiling to that closet so they are just crawling down from the attic space. I was so pissed that they didn't bother to put a ceiling in there. Later, the air conditioning people came over to do the annual inspection. I asked them if all the homes in my development were built like this and he said yes. It seems like suck stupid construction to not have the house sealed off from the unused attic space. I called my area manager and they are coming out on Thursday to take a look at the closet. I am not letting up about this until they give me a roof. I am sick of living with spiders everywhere. I am just glad that they are not poisonous. The pest control guy sprayed inside the house as well as outside. I have had the dogs in their room (formally known as my office) all day because I don't want them licking up the chemicals. I made the guy pinkie promise that they would be safe after the chemicals were dry, but I am still worried. They seem to be doing okay in there so I will just let them hang out together for the whole day.
I managed to eat bacon for breakfast and lunch today. I just cant get over how good this stuff is. I am probably going to add some to the dinner I am planning on cooking as well. I forgot how much I love eggs cooked in bacon grease. Nothing better! I needed to plan something easy for dinner tonight because the sub's Christmas party is tonight. It is in the "downtown" area and I need to make sure I can eat before I head out there. I decided on some meaty tomato sauce with spaghetti squash. It isn't a new meal, but I have not had it since starting the Whole30. I totally forgot I was roasting the spaghetti squash in the oven, and left it in there for over an hour. Needless to say, it was cooked. The nice thing was that it came out of the rind very easily. I am going to start on the sauce soon. I love having a sauce that has simmered for a long time before you eat it. I make mine with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, BACON, and lots of spices. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
I did have one slip up today with my food. Earlier, I was hungry so I grabbed some strawberries. I ate way more than I should have and I didn't eat anything else with them. That is kind of a no-no when it comes to the Whole30, but I am okay with it. I was still compliant with my food choice and I stopped when I realized I had eaten too many. Not a big mistake, but one I would still like to acknowledge.
I managed to eat bacon for breakfast and lunch today. I just cant get over how good this stuff is. I am probably going to add some to the dinner I am planning on cooking as well. I forgot how much I love eggs cooked in bacon grease. Nothing better! I needed to plan something easy for dinner tonight because the sub's Christmas party is tonight. It is in the "downtown" area and I need to make sure I can eat before I head out there. I decided on some meaty tomato sauce with spaghetti squash. It isn't a new meal, but I have not had it since starting the Whole30. I totally forgot I was roasting the spaghetti squash in the oven, and left it in there for over an hour. Needless to say, it was cooked. The nice thing was that it came out of the rind very easily. I am going to start on the sauce soon. I love having a sauce that has simmered for a long time before you eat it. I make mine with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, BACON, and lots of spices. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
I did have one slip up today with my food. Earlier, I was hungry so I grabbed some strawberries. I ate way more than I should have and I didn't eat anything else with them. That is kind of a no-no when it comes to the Whole30, but I am okay with it. I was still compliant with my food choice and I stopped when I realized I had eaten too many. Not a big mistake, but one I would still like to acknowledge.
Day 16
Not much to talk about today. I went to the gym and got a good workout in. I am sure I am going to feel some sore muscles tomorrow. I plan on really working out a good amount the last half of the Whole30. I feel like my body has full adjusted to the new food regime and I am over the nasty cold I had for weeks. I didn't really do much for the rest of the day...LAZY!! I helped a friend take her cats to vet and then lounged around the house more until Dave called. He got back in today and I was excited to see him.
For dinner we had a leftover night because neither of us felt like cooking. I had the rest of the hash I made the night before. Dave had the rest of the bison chili and a cheese quesadilla. We relaxed for the rest of the evening and watched the season finale of Dexter. It was a good episode and I am interested to see how the next season goes. We have two episodes left of Sons of Anarchy to watch. I have been patiently waiting for him to be home to watch them. The other night at the Spouse Christmas party, I had to close my ears while some of the ladies were talking about the finale. After seeing how much they enjoyed it, I really want to watch them soon.
For dinner we had a leftover night because neither of us felt like cooking. I had the rest of the hash I made the night before. Dave had the rest of the bison chili and a cheese quesadilla. We relaxed for the rest of the evening and watched the season finale of Dexter. It was a good episode and I am interested to see how the next season goes. We have two episodes left of Sons of Anarchy to watch. I have been patiently waiting for him to be home to watch them. The other night at the Spouse Christmas party, I had to close my ears while some of the ladies were talking about the finale. After seeing how much they enjoyed it, I really want to watch them soon.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Day 15...HALFWAY!!
Today was the day of bacon!! I decided that the strips were ready for some oven time. I cooked them at 200 degrees per the recipe but I could not get the strips to get above 130 degrees even after 2 hours of cooking. I found another recipe that said to cook them at 225 and that did the trick. Then I patiently waited for them to cool off...torture! I found a recipe for dinner that used bacon, so I ran to the grocery store to grab some stuff. I feel like I am there every day or every other day to get stuff. I am sure they think I am crazy.
I cleaned up around my house a bit and did some laundry. Dave will be back tomorrow so I know he will be hogging the washer and dryer for a bit. I still need to dust but that can wait until tomorrow...or the next day. The light in our kitchen went out so I called the maintenance people and it will be fixed on Friday. I guess we will have to go rustic with our cooking in the evening. I also called about the spiders that have been invading our house. Luckily, they are not big spiders. They look kind of like daddy long legs. They are every where! I easily kill 5-10 a day. They congregate in the utility closest with my dehumidifier and a/c unit. Then they slowly make their way around to various corners of my house. I could have worse animals invading my home, but I am still not happy. Hopefully they get rid of the spiders.
Back to bacon. I decided to make a chicken, sweet potato, apple, and brussel sprout hash for dinner. It was delicious. I followed the recipe with one exception. They said to add cinnamon to the dish, but I added some chili pepper powder instead. I had adding sweet spices to sweet potatoes. It is just too much. I like the contrast of spicy when I have sweet potatoes. Dave is slowly building up my tolerance to spicy foods so I am starting to enjoy a little heat in my dishes more and more. I am not going to lie, there was a lot of chopping in this recipe. It really is a labor of love. Once everything is chopped, however, cooking goes by so quickly. I also got to use my bacon so I was excited. I was really nervous to try a piece because I was afraid it would taste bad. It was amazing!! It didn't smell like store bought bacon while I was cooking it, which made me nervous because that is all I have ever known bacon to smell like. It tasted so much better than anything I have ever bought. I am hooked now and will never buy bacon again. I am sure Dave will have some fun smoking them and stuff; a little out of my comfort zone for this run. It was so easy and ends up being cheaper (and better for you) than the store bought stuff. YAY BACON!!!
I cleaned up around my house a bit and did some laundry. Dave will be back tomorrow so I know he will be hogging the washer and dryer for a bit. I still need to dust but that can wait until tomorrow...or the next day. The light in our kitchen went out so I called the maintenance people and it will be fixed on Friday. I guess we will have to go rustic with our cooking in the evening. I also called about the spiders that have been invading our house. Luckily, they are not big spiders. They look kind of like daddy long legs. They are every where! I easily kill 5-10 a day. They congregate in the utility closest with my dehumidifier and a/c unit. Then they slowly make their way around to various corners of my house. I could have worse animals invading my home, but I am still not happy. Hopefully they get rid of the spiders.
Back to bacon. I decided to make a chicken, sweet potato, apple, and brussel sprout hash for dinner. It was delicious. I followed the recipe with one exception. They said to add cinnamon to the dish, but I added some chili pepper powder instead. I had adding sweet spices to sweet potatoes. It is just too much. I like the contrast of spicy when I have sweet potatoes. Dave is slowly building up my tolerance to spicy foods so I am starting to enjoy a little heat in my dishes more and more. I am not going to lie, there was a lot of chopping in this recipe. It really is a labor of love. Once everything is chopped, however, cooking goes by so quickly. I also got to use my bacon so I was excited. I was really nervous to try a piece because I was afraid it would taste bad. It was amazing!! It didn't smell like store bought bacon while I was cooking it, which made me nervous because that is all I have ever known bacon to smell like. It tasted so much better than anything I have ever bought. I am hooked now and will never buy bacon again. I am sure Dave will have some fun smoking them and stuff; a little out of my comfort zone for this run. It was so easy and ends up being cheaper (and better for you) than the store bought stuff. YAY BACON!!!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Day 14
Today I had a list of things I was going to get done around the house so it would be awesomely clean when Dave got back in a few days. Want to guess how much of it got done? NONE! I laid on the couch all day and enjoyed every second of it. I did get off the couch to make lunch though. There wasn't much in the house that was ready to eat so I got a little creative. I still had some bruscetta mix in the fridge still form dinner a few nights back. I mixed some canned tuna into it and let them sit in the fridge for awhile. I cooked up some sweet potato fries as well. The tuna was awesome and I will be doing this again.
I finally got motivated around 4pm to do stuff. I went to the commissary and grabbed some fruit for a fruit salad that I brought to a party later on in the evening. I came home and made the salad and then started on my dinner. There was food at the party, but I was not going to be eating lasagna. I made some bison chili and sweet potato fries (I am clearly addicted to these). Ground bison is about the only meat we have in the commissary that is grass fed and hormone free. It also costs a pretty penny but I can deal with it. I modified the recipe a bit because I didn't have everything it called for but it still came out great.
I took the dogs out for a walk before the party and noticed Jack was limping. I thought he was walking funny earlier in the day but thought he was just sore from running around at the dog park the past few days. When we got home, I found he had ripped his pads. I cleaned him up, even thought they looked very clean already, and put some antibiotics on them. He spent the rest of our time together giving me the evil eye as I kept telling him to stop licking his pads. I am going to keep any eye on them and hope they don't get infected.
The Christmas party was really fun and I got to meet a few ladies I didn't know. This party was for Chief wives only so there were only 10 of us there. A few of the guys are single and a few have wives that don't live on island. We played a few icebreakers and then got down to presents. We did the gift giving Chinese Christmas style. I was lucky and picked #1. There was a lot of alcohol going around as well as bath and body works gifts. I brought a gift certificate to a salon and spa, which I was tempted to steal back, but then decided it was tacky to do so. I ended up with a super soft blanket and some bath and body works products. The scent was warm vanilla sugar and it reminds me of jr high and high school.
I finally got motivated around 4pm to do stuff. I went to the commissary and grabbed some fruit for a fruit salad that I brought to a party later on in the evening. I came home and made the salad and then started on my dinner. There was food at the party, but I was not going to be eating lasagna. I made some bison chili and sweet potato fries (I am clearly addicted to these). Ground bison is about the only meat we have in the commissary that is grass fed and hormone free. It also costs a pretty penny but I can deal with it. I modified the recipe a bit because I didn't have everything it called for but it still came out great.
I took the dogs out for a walk before the party and noticed Jack was limping. I thought he was walking funny earlier in the day but thought he was just sore from running around at the dog park the past few days. When we got home, I found he had ripped his pads. I cleaned him up, even thought they looked very clean already, and put some antibiotics on them. He spent the rest of our time together giving me the evil eye as I kept telling him to stop licking his pads. I am going to keep any eye on them and hope they don't get infected.
The Christmas party was really fun and I got to meet a few ladies I didn't know. This party was for Chief wives only so there were only 10 of us there. A few of the guys are single and a few have wives that don't live on island. We played a few icebreakers and then got down to presents. We did the gift giving Chinese Christmas style. I was lucky and picked #1. There was a lot of alcohol going around as well as bath and body works gifts. I brought a gift certificate to a salon and spa, which I was tempted to steal back, but then decided it was tacky to do so. I ended up with a super soft blanket and some bath and body works products. The scent was warm vanilla sugar and it reminds me of jr high and high school.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Day 13
Today was my last day at work!! Woohoo!! It was a good day and I got a lot of work done for the store. I had some guys come in last minute to rent gear, which was a pain. They were in no hurry to get out of the store and I was open way later than I would like. In the end it was okay because I never have to go back and work again.
One of my friends had her birthday party last night. After I washed the stink of work off of me, I grabbed a quick bite of food and then headed out to the party. We were all meeting up for dinner and of course there was nothing on the menu that I could eat. I ate my leftovers from dinner last night and was fine with that. In a way I am glad that I have food allergies because when I don't eat at a gathering it is not a big deal. I always hate when people make it a big deal when you don't eat at a get together. I am just wanting to go to hang out. Why does it matter if I eat or not? It doesn't have an effect on how much fun we have. If it doesn't make me feel awkward then it shouldn't make you feel awkward. I am off my soapbox now.
I took the dogs to the dog park on my lunch break and they had a great time. A lady came over with her two bulldogs about halfway through our time at the park. There are two identical halves to our dog park that are separated by a high fence. She went to the other side after I told her that Jack doesn't do well with other dogs. Jack had a major freak out at first. The hair along his whole back was up and he was growling like a mad mad at the other dog. The bulldogs didn't seem to give a shit and just barked back. After a few minutes, he calmed down and didn't even care about them. I was so happy to see him so calm around other dogs. When they left, she let one dog out at a time. The older dog was left in the park by himself for a few minutes and was whining. Jack went the fence and sat with him until the lady came back to get him. As we were leaving, another couple showed up with a puppy. Jack didn't give a shit about the dog and we left without any barking or lunging. It started out shaky for the first two minutes but then it was heaven. There may be hope for him after all!
One of my friends had her birthday party last night. After I washed the stink of work off of me, I grabbed a quick bite of food and then headed out to the party. We were all meeting up for dinner and of course there was nothing on the menu that I could eat. I ate my leftovers from dinner last night and was fine with that. In a way I am glad that I have food allergies because when I don't eat at a gathering it is not a big deal. I always hate when people make it a big deal when you don't eat at a get together. I am just wanting to go to hang out. Why does it matter if I eat or not? It doesn't have an effect on how much fun we have. If it doesn't make me feel awkward then it shouldn't make you feel awkward. I am off my soapbox now.
I took the dogs to the dog park on my lunch break and they had a great time. A lady came over with her two bulldogs about halfway through our time at the park. There are two identical halves to our dog park that are separated by a high fence. She went to the other side after I told her that Jack doesn't do well with other dogs. Jack had a major freak out at first. The hair along his whole back was up and he was growling like a mad mad at the other dog. The bulldogs didn't seem to give a shit and just barked back. After a few minutes, he calmed down and didn't even care about them. I was so happy to see him so calm around other dogs. When they left, she let one dog out at a time. The older dog was left in the park by himself for a few minutes and was whining. Jack went the fence and sat with him until the lady came back to get him. As we were leaving, another couple showed up with a puppy. Jack didn't give a shit about the dog and we left without any barking or lunging. It started out shaky for the first two minutes but then it was heaven. There may be hope for him after all!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Day 12
I decided to keep the camera out all day to take some food pictures
after the fun with making the bacon. Here is my breakfast of scrambled
eggs, sauteed spinach, and grape tomatoes. It was very filling and I
never tire of eating it. Good thing I had a hearty breakfast because my
day was very eventful.
Today my trainer decided that our workout would be TRX. I was not super happy about this because I hate TRX. I feel like I am an uncoordinated weakling when I have to do these workouts. I take solace in the fact that I am using my body weight and that is why it is so hard. Hopefully, I will be able to do a TRX workout better as the pounds start to come off. My trainer took measurements for my workout buddy and was going to do them for me. I was 90% ready to have them done but stopped before I got on the scale and said I would wait until the end of the month. I was really proud of myself for not caving into the overwhelming urge to see what I weigh. The day will come soon enough and I will be that much happier that I waited. Our workout was killer, but somehow I got the bug to do even more work when I got home. I mowed the lawn and then decided to attack the bushes that have taken over the front of our house. I don't really know what to do with them other than to cut the shit out of them. They are overgrown and full of banana spiders. I don't mind them so much because they eat all the bugs but I don't need ten of them in a few square feet of space. I am thinking of slowly hacking away at them until they are all gone. We have a palm tree in the corner of our front "flower" bed that I think will grow much faster without being suffocated by bushes. Plus it will be less maintenance in the long run. Maybe I will even get a wild hair and plant something in their place one day.
After all this activity, I gladly chowed down on leftovers from last night.
Herb Crusted Salmon
http://remcooks.com/2012/08/06/herb-crusted-salmon-with-garlic-roasted-asparagus/http://remcooks.com/2012/08/06/herb-crusted-salmon-with-garlic-roasted-asparagus/
I didn't have any Herbes de Provence handy (I am not that fancy by any stretch of the imagination) so I just mixed some herbs and white pepper together and called it good.
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