21DSD: Day 20

I didn't get a chance to post last night, because last night B and I were out late, first to dinner at a fun, new restaurant here in Uptown that specializes in Southern style cuisine called the Boneyard, followed  by a night at the Orpheum theater to see AZIZ ANSARI!  It's our second time seeing Aziz perform live in Minneapolis, and for the second time, he didn't disappoint.

 Of course, the hardest part about today (and weekends in general during the duration of this thing), was no alchohol when we went out to dinner.  That drink menu looked TASTY!  Man, I feel like a lush, that the thing I miss the most, and the thing I keep talking about over and over and over is that I miss being able to have a glass of wine, beer or a cocktail.  Maybe that's a sign I need to cut back, which I've already promised to do.  My rules on this will be limiting drinks to the weekend, and allowing myself a glass once during the work week if out for a happy hour or evening with friends.  There. Concrete, clear, manageable.

 Here's the DAY 20 (SO CLOSE NOW!) rundown:
Time Went to Bed Last night: 12:30 am. 
Time got up this morning: 9 am.    weeeee! so much sleeeep!
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): good
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair, poor):  good/good.  put in a few hours of work in the morning, which was no fun on a Sunny Saturday, but hey, gotta stay in the good graces of my employer and keep earnin' 'em dolla dolla billz. 
Exercise (type/duration):   Low impact today.  Went to the driving range.  Handled the woods pretty well today (heh!  get your mind out of the gutter!  Oh, that wasn't what you were thinking?  Liar.)
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, bacon and scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and cheese.
Lunch:  Snacked for lunch - apples, cheese, almonds
Dinner:  As I just mentioned, went out to dinner at the Boneyard.  I actually was able to choose a (mostly) detox friendly option, the "sweet tea" brined grilled chicken breast, with succotash, braised kale, creole aioli.  The only "off plan" item was a little bit of corn in the succotash...imho its nbd!
Snack: see: lunch
Water Intake: 6 glasses 

21DSD: Day 18 & 19

TGIMFF!  Man, this was a ROUGH week at work!  Long, difficult hours, and challenges and obstacles to my game plan popped up all week long.  My crazy work life definitely hindered the energy I had leftover to keep up on my daily updates at the end of the day.  So once again this week, I'm writing up these past 2 nights to catch up.

In the midst of the stress and chaos this week, it would have been very easy to slip back into bad eating habits, but I'm proud to say that I've stuck with the program!  Without my usual go-to stress busters to turn to (wine, sweets), I sought healthier options to ease my stress (yoga, reading).  I have had crazy weeks like this in the past (though honestly, the past weeks were even worse), the kind of weeks that would bring me to tears once I got home from work. To be fair, those tears usually came after several weeks in a row of the crazy hours, and my hours are much better on the whole now that I've rotated into a new division, and weeks like the one I just had are no longer the norm. Still, I do think my improved diet helped me with my coping skills and ability to focus this week, even if my work stress today isn't at the same danger-zone level as it has been in the past. No tears, just plowing through and moving on.

Once I end the detox, while I'm definitely going to allow myself to drink wine, I am going to cut way back on the number of nights I week I reach for that glass. This weekend, I'll be plotting out my "day 22 and beyond" plan, and setting some concrete boundaries for myself.  It's easy to say "Oh, I plan to more or less stick to the plan most of the time" -- but that seems wishy washy and leaves far too much room for interpretation.  Let's face it, I like rules, I like process, I like order -- it's just a part of who I am and how I operate.  I've always been one to play by the rules (most of the time, I can get feisty on occasion, step out of bounds and raise a little hell!). Since that's what I know works for me, I'll be writing my personal rule book this weekend to help me continue to navigate down this new path.

All right, let's get to the run down --

Day 19 - Today

Time Went to Bed Last night: 11 pm. 
Time got up this morning: 7 am.    
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): good
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  fair on mood, good on energy.  Today was another crazy hectic day at work, which admittedly made me a bit cranky..and unfortunately, I'll be working this weekend too, wrapping up a big project that's due on Monday and that blew up a little at the end here. I worked a long day today trying to get things back into order, well into the evening, which sucks since it's Friday.  I am so glad this week is over, even though I have that ~4 hours I'll need to put in this weekend.  
Exercise (type/duration):   I decided to put an end to my work day around 7 this evening so I could make it to 730 yoga class this evening.  I'm so glad I made that judgment call.  Since I can't have wine on the detox, yoga really did the job to soothe and relax me. It was just what I needed.
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, egg white muffins with spinach, feta, black olives
Lunch:  Leftover Mexican lime chicken with salsa and cheese on top of black beans.
Dinner:  Leftover Mexican lime chicken with cheese on top of black beans.  Yes, I had the same thing for dinner that I had for lunch, and yes, I ate this earlier in the week too, twice. We purposely prepared it to have lots of leftovers, and they have been a lifesaver this week. My long work hours that have left me coming home with very little energy and brain power to put toward cooking. Technically this meal is a bit of a "cheat" since I'm supposed to stick to 1/2 cup of beans/legumes a day, and today, I had a cup. I hardly count eating an extra 1/2 cup of fiber rich black beans as a big deal.  As the kids and their hashtags say #sorrynotsorry
Snack: almonds (clearly my go to snack...), warm apples topped with cinnamon (sliced and sauteed with a little bit of coconut oil) 
Water Intake: At least 8 glasses

Day 18 - Yesterday (Thursday)

Time Went to Bed Last night: 12a
Time got up this morning: 5:30 am.    
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): good
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  good to fair on both accounts.  Work has kicked my butt this week, and I haven't been getting the 8 hours of sleep that I need to feel super charged.
Exercise (type/duration):   Not today
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, egg white muffins with spinach, feta, black olives
Lunch:  I was in a hurry, and I haven't had a lot of time to prep at home, so I got a salad at Subway - lettuce and spinach, lots of veggies, chicken and vinegar, oil, salt and pepper
Dinner:  B made dinner - yay!  He made zoodles ("noodles" made ouf of zucchini - my new favorite thing!) with spicy garlic shrimp. So yummy.  I posted a picture below, and while I've shared links to both in the past, I may as well share them again - zoodles, and spicy garlic shrimp
Snack:  Almonds, banana
Water Intake: At least 6 glasses

"Zoodles" with spicy garlic shrimp.  So good!

21DSD: Days 16 & 17

I've had a busy work week, and the longer hours have made it difficult to keep up with the blog.  More importantly though, I've stayed on track, and I also feel that, even with the heightened work stress, I've been coping with it pretty well - better than I would have in the past.  Could it be that this change in my diet is helping me to concentrate better, stay focused, and keep calm and even keel?  It could be indeed, given that a ride on the sugar roller coaster can make us feel irritable and anxious.  Not me, I'm chill, yo!  Well, maybe I'm feeling a little stressed, but for the most part, I'm feeling pretty good.

It's getting late, and I have to get into the office early again tomorrow for another jam packed day, so here's my recap for yesterday and today 

Day 17 - Today

Time Went to Bed Last night: 11:30 pm. 
Time got up this morning: 6:30 am.    
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): good
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  Good/good - I felt as though I was very focused today - got a lot done and controlled the chaos at work.
Exercise (type/duration):   Made it to the later yoga class tonight after a nearly 12 hour day at the office. Booyah!
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, banana, almonds
Lunch:  Made myself a salad at Byerlys - greens, veggies, turkey, eggs, cheese, bacon
Dinner:  Leftover Mexican lime chicken with salsa and cheese on top of black beans.
Snack: More almonds
Water Intake: At least 8 glasses

Day 16 - Yesterday

Time Went to Bed Last night: 12 am. 
Time got up this morning: 6 am.    
How I felt when I woke up (excellent, good, fair, poor): good
General Mood/Energy throughout the day (excellent, good, fair,  poor):  Good/good - busy busy day....
Exercise (type/duration):   Not today
Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, egg white muffins with spinach, feta, sausage
Lunch:  Went to pancheros and had a salad with chicken, veggies and topped with queso...mmmmm!  (yes, it's allowed at level one!! Such a treat!)
Dinner:  Beans with cheese, salsa, sour cream and black olives (lazy person's dinner since neither B or i felt like cooking, but filling, fueling, and felt a little indulgent, like a mexican layer dip)
Snack:  Almonds, banana
Water Intake: At least 6 glasses