Day Three: Learning a Lot (and a summery chicken recipe)

Up until this week, Wednesdays have been my weigh-in days. Why Wednesday? I'm not 100% sure, but I think it stemmed from the fact that most of my recent appointments with the "lady doctor" have been scheduled on Wednesday and I like to be fascinated by the fact that when I weigh myself at home, I consistently weigh 7 pounds less than when I'm weighed at the doctor's office. Does this happen to anyone else?! It is so discouraging to me, because I just know the doctor is going to be proud of my loss, but when I get there, the scale says something much more than what my scale at home is saying. Scales are liars! Cavewomen did NOT have scales, I'm certain of it. Actually, they probably used the balance-the-see-saw method. But, I digress. Whilst doing the Whole30, one is not supposed to weigh or measure for the whole 30 day duration. Do you know how you feel naked when you forget to put your watch on in the morning? Well, yesterday I felt naked most of the day because I felt like I was forgetting to do something, when in fact, I was consciously not doing something--weighing myself.

I am learning a whole lot while doing this diet! (Sidebar: I have decided that for the 30 days that I'm consciously making the decision to abstain from certain "bad" foods and eat only the "good" foods, I'm going to consider this regimen a "diet." Afterwards, if I continue to stick with the paleo way of life, then I will begin to consider it a "lifestyle.") For instance, I'm learning that processed foods are SUPER convenient! My husband and I had errands to run yesterday morning, afterward, it was lunchtime and I was hungry, but I was also tired because I hadn't been to bed yet (I work third shift, so the errands were during my normal slumber time), so we decided to stop at Kroger and grab something quick for lunch. Well, his "something quick" was a small tray of freshly made sushi (which contains rice, that I cannot consume) and my "something quick" was not really anywhere to be found unless I wanted raw fruit or vegetables, neither of which sounded remotely appealing to me at that point in time. I ended up grabbing a couple dozen eggs and "quickly" scrambled some up with the produce we had at home. While it was a doable (and delicious, even) meal, it certainly wasn't as convenient as the sushi that my husband was indulging in.

Because of the lack of convenience of fresh, whole foods, I'm learning that I need to plan better. For instance, when I woke up from my sleep yesterday, I found myself with only a short amount of time to do the long-ish list of things I needed to do, among them, cooking and working out. Normally, if I don't feel like cooking or I just simply don't have time, I'll stop at the Food Lion on my way to work and grab a frozen dinner or a sandwich or something and roll along to work. 10 minutes, and I'm done! However, when you actually have to prepare food (because, otherwise, what will you eat?!), it takes much longer than 10 minutes. It is soooo worth it, though, because the food I end up with is so much tastier and healthier than what I could grab out of a freezer and throw into a microwave for 4.86 minutes, but it sure does require some planning and preparation! The plan for next week's meals is to figure out exactly how much I need to make of each recipe to make it last for the number of required meals and do as much preparation as possible in advance so that I don't find myself having to choose between a workout and eating.

Yes, I chose the food over the workout even after I promised the world in Day Two's blog that I wasn't going to give up on my exercise regimen any more. But, don't worry! I'm planning to get my sweat on this morning before jumping into bed. So, I WILL have a workout under my belt for the day. (I view my days of the week differently than most people do. From the time I wake up in the afternoon, to the time I go to bed in the morning, that's one day. Not from 12a-12a as most people would perceive a "day.") Working out before bed is not ideal, I know. But, lately my mantra has been, "Something is better than nothing!"

Just in case you're wondering, I'm hoping to continue with my learning today. I think I'm going to try my hand at making homemade mayonnaise! (Wish me luck!)

I know you're itching to know, so here's the list of food that I ate for Day Three:

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs
Spinach
Button mushrooms

Lunch:
Leftover ground turkey taco meat (the last of it, finally!)
Leftover pico de gallo
Baby carrots

Dinner:
Caribbean Lime Chicken (recipe follows... in the future I will add jalapeno pepper to the salsa and possibly red pepper flakes to the marinade. I also added cilantro to the salsa.)
Sweet Potato
Grilled Asparagus
Grilled Carrots

Snacks:
Dry roasted sunflower seeds
Fresh Pineapple

From the Taste of Home magazine, 2012 Grill It! Edition:

Caribbean Lime Chicken

Chicken

½ C lime juice

¼ C olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 t Greek seasoning

8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz ea)

Salsa

2 lg tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 C diced fresh pineapple

2/3 C cubed avocado

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 T lime juice

1 T cider vinegar

½ t salt

½ t pepper

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the lime juice, oil, garlic and Greek seasoning; add the chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours. In a small bowl, combine salsa ingredients. Chill until serving.

Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4” from heat for 5-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 170°. Serve with salsa.