21DSD: Day 15

My allergies are still bothering me, and I'm on the tired side today after a busy day at work coupled with the dreary weather, so I'm going to keep it short.  

I did promise to talk about the Kale chips I made yesterday.  I feel like such a health nut!  I made Kale chips!  And....I did NOT like them!  I think Kale is bitter, and even with the spicy blend, I wasn't a fan.  So, perhaps I spoke to soon, and my health nut card will be revoked, because I do not get the obsession with Kale chips. I'm sure it didn't help that I didn't quite get the "consistency" right.  Some of my "chips" tasted burnt, while others seemed fine on the crisp factor, but when I went to give them a second shot today, they were all pretty soggy.  Too much effort for a lackluster return.  I'll stick to seeds and nuts for now.

Anyway, here's my day 15 run down -- 

Time Went to Bed Last night: 12 am.  (reading, and also trouble falling asleep due to allergies

Time got up this morning: 7:00 am.    

How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor):  Fair/poor - sinus issues with my allergies.  At least that means the trees and buds are blooming!

General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  Good/fair and good.  The weather made me a little moody.

Exercise (type/duration):   Recovery day.  After 2 days in a row of running (which I hadn't done in a while), I'm pretty sore.

Breakfast:  Egg white muffins with feta, spinach, and sausage crumbles.

Lunch:  Steak salad from Chipotle with beans, cheese, onions, peppers, pico and sour cream.

Dinner:  Brian cooked dinner tonight - Mexican lime chicken with broccoli topped with salsa

Snack: Banana, a handful of almonds, cheese & summer sausage

Water Intake: 6 glasses

21DSD: Day14 (2 weeks down, 1 to go!)

Awwww yeah!  I've made it through two weeks, and am feeling confident that I will make it through this next and final detox week. 

I got in 4 workouts this week - 2 sessions of yoga, and 2 three-mile runs, so that's quite an improvement over the prior week, with my single yoga session as my only workout.  I also tried out a handful of new recipes this week, including chicken with artichokes and olives on Day 10 (with great leftovers on day 12 and 13)  apple Streusel egg muffins on Day 11.

I got some fun new inspiration in the mail this week (I gifted myself these items via Amazon Prime), including the 21DSD Cookbook, and a Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler to make zucchini noodles, aka "zoodles"!  I made Zoodles today with my new peeler- and they were awesome! I LOVE pasta, and I've been seeing zucchini and squash noodles all over Pinterest and on various Paleo and healthy eating blogs swearing that the texture is reminiscent of a delicious plate of spaghetti.   That piqued my interest since I love pasta, and today I gave it a whirl.  It could not have been easier -- used my new Julienne peeler to julienne a bunch of zuchinni into strips, or "noodles", then sauteed them for about 5-7 minutes, topped them with a "homemade" meat sauce (e.g. canned diced tomatoes with some fresh basil, onions, garlic, sea salt and pepper and browned ground beef), and VOILA!  A Delicious, and highly nutritious meal!

Zucchini is a variety of summer squash, and summer squash has some amazing health benefits, including linkage to diabetes prevention and insulin regulation, and packed loads of antioxidants, according to the Worlds Healthiest Foods (whfoods.org). You can learn more about this amazing veggie on WHFoods here.  The extent of the blood-sugar benefits is just one more reason to love zucchini!

Here's my day 14 run down -- 

Time Went to Bed Last night: 11 pm.  (yep, we get crazy on a Saturday night!)

Time got up this morning: 8:00 am.    

How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor):  Fair/poor - I think the headache I got after my run yesterday was actually allergy related.  It stuck with me through the evening, and I woke up with it today.  B picked up some allergy meds for me, and stubborn me, I haven't taken them yet.  I probably will start in the morning.

General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  Good/ Excellent - My mood was pretty good all day, and my energy levels were pretty terrific - I got a lot of chores completed around the house, played in the kitchen a bit, practiced my saxophone....and got in a workout too! (see directly below)

Exercise (type/duration):  Ran 3 miles.  Bam!  2 days in a row!

Breakfast:  Pumpkin Pancakes from the 21DSD original book.  I didn't have the recipe to make the accompanying vanilla bean coconut butter, and without it, these were a bit bland. These pancakes would also be pretty good with maple syrup, which obviously isn't allowed since maple syrup is straight up sugar.  I may try them again, but will look into that vanilla bean butter to see if that jazzes it up.

Lunch:  Caesar salad (sans croutons) with leftover lemon chicken.

Dinner: Zoodles (recipe here, it could not be easier!) with Parmesan cheese and Marinara sauce from my new 21DSD Cookbook, plus I added ground beef to make it a meaty marinara. So good! B even said "I never need to eat pasta again!"  This easy recipe is sure to become a go to and a regular part of the dinnertime rotation in our house.  Photos below.

Snack: Apple, homemade kale chips (I'll talk about these tomorrow)

Water Intake: 8 glasses

                            Zoodles Step 1 - Julienne!

Zoodles Step 2:  saute and sizzle!

Zoodles Step 3: Enjoy!

21DSD: Day 13

Not much to say about day 13, except I don't think I got enough good carbs (e.g. veggies) for energy and nutrients, since I felt a bit weak/headachy after my workout.. Plus, it's pretty obvious by the rundown that didn't eat many veggies at all today.  Tomorrow's a new day.

Here's the day 13 run down -- 

Time Went to Bed Last night: 10:30 pm.  B and I are party animals.
Time got up this morning: 9:00 am. So much sleep!   
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): Excellent
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  Excellent/ Excellent - it's the freakin' weekend!  Well, a little low energy and headachy after my run today, but it hasn't dampened my spirits.
Exercise (type/duration):  Ran 3 miles.  hit golf balls at the driving range.
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, scrambled eggs with cheese, onions, peppers
Lunch:  Beans with cheese, ground beef, salsa, sour cream.
Dinner: We ordered chicken wings.  Neither of us felt like cooking.  Maybe not the most balanced meal, but fits within the parameters of the detox.  I will need to bolster my kitchen repertoire to make this way of eatin work long term.
Snack: Apple, pumpkin seeds
Water Intake: 8 glasses