Saturday, April 21, 2018

WHAT "Tiger Blood"???

I'm on Day 19 of Whole30, and supposedly, Days 17-ish to 20-ish are when you feel "energetic, ready to tackle the world, and have Tiger Blood."

Well. 

Not so much. 

I mean, I'm feeling like I'm going backward. I know part of my problem is portion control, as well as knowing that I have a problem with sweets. But I'm not feeling the light, feeling the better sleep, and feeling that ZIP that we're supposed to feel. 

But then there's the asterisk.... *your results may be different*... So I think I may have to do another round, lighten up on the portions (particularly of meat and fat, and have fruit only occasionally) and see if I can drop more pounds. I also think that taking another round will push the sweet tooth farther in the background. 


The meal planning has been good for me. And lucky for me, I'm not easily bored, so I'm kind of in a "the usual" for breakfast, and I'm not tired of eggs. Yet. 

I bought 4 large portobella mushroom caps, and roasted them. So dinner the other night was a mushroom cap with cauliflower rice + spinach, some cherry tomatoes and bacon. 

There's a question, maybe, on whether it's portobella or portabello... Either way: big, meaty mushrooms. 

Roasting was the easiest thing: just rinse them off, rub the top with a little olive oil, and place on a roasting pan, gill side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then flip them over and roast for another 5 minutes. 

They'll keep for about a week, and I'm kind of moving through ways to jazz them up and eat them. 

Breakfast today was 2 eggs, mushroom, and my usual salsa and avocado. 

I left the yolks a little more runny - more a matter of timing than anything. Sometimes, I misjudge and it's not as cream and "yolk-y" as I'd like. 

The thing is the texture. The texture of the yolk contrasts with the salsa. And then there's the creaminess of the avocado. All with the undercurrent of the meaty mushroom base and it's got protein, appropriate fat, the veg and the hot/cold buzz to the tastebuds. 

I'd encourage you to give it a try. 

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Hubby, as I had a class to teach. Pork loin, sweet potato hash and broccoli. I added a mayo dip to it (there's got to be what's called "plated fat" in the meal), and then I had a banana. I hadn't had fruit all day, so I figured that would be ok. 

Tomorrow, I'm likely to revisit that breakfast, have a salad for lunch and then something will present itself for dinner. It's been another weekend where it's all gone woooooooooosh and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it to be Sunday tomorrow!

Zonta Club...

So I'm a member of our local Zonta Club. It's an organization concerned with advancing the status of women. We do service projects around the town, and today we were cleaning up the gardens at the Joliet Hospice. I got to prune a tree... and then we plucked the "reeds" out of the spent lilies so that they can re-flower this spring. 

We spent two hours doing the work. Bending over. I ended up teaching my "crew member" (dwindled from 4 of us to 2 of us as the others got assigned to other spots) how to properly bend, because she was complaining about her back. 

The person coordinating the clean-up was very grateful, it was just cool enough and just cloudy enough to make it bearable, and yes, that's my jacket hanging off the tree. It's not the tree I pruned, but after wrestling with the one I had to trim, I was warm!

And now I'm sore!! I've been having trouble with my hip, and even though I was practicing proper technique, I've got a sore rear end!

But the gardens are gorgeous.

After we were done, I meandered down to the creek that borders the one edge of the hospice's property. 

You can see how tranquil it would be for a stroll or just to look out the windows. It's a beautiful property. 

Meeting with friends...

The other day, I met with a friend of mine. She's recently retired and it had been a while - since the Women's March in January - that we'd been able to spend time with each other. 

We had a great time, but before that, I was running early, so I drove through our local park. It's being rehabbed, and wowza - the roads are lovely, and the signage is all fixed up. 

So as I was traveling through the park, I stopped dead when I saw this little guy... Well, I'm not sure whether it's a guy or a gal. But the man who's parked outside the frame says that "it" comes out about lunchtime every day, and he shares his lunch with it. 

I'm not sure how I feel about feeding the wildlife. But it looks like the creature was foraging in the garbage anyway. 

It was great to see my friend. We got to vent to each other about the "stuff" we needed to release, and we made tentative plans to meet up to shop - she's got a kid getting married, and needs to work with a Mother of the Groom dress. 

I don't do that often. I know it sounds cliche, but my schedule is pretty tightly regimented, and if something's thrown off, then the whole thing goes kabloooey. 

I find, though, that I need to get together with friends. I need to sometimes not be in charge of stuff. I'm finding that I need those relationships to keep me on an even keel. 

All work and no play makes me cranky. 

Random Picture...

When I got home from the garden jaunt, I had to prep for the class I was teaching - it was a "Ditch & Switch" class for Young Living Essential Oils and I was working on handouts and the stuff you prep for being able to present. 

Anyway, this is what greeted me when I came home. She actually sat there, didn't move, didn't woof, didn't whine. 

Sat there. While I walked in, dropped my stuff off, went to pet the elkhounds, went to the bathroom, and THEN...

When I sat down in front of my computer, she decided to waddle herself off the couch to say hello. 

She continues to amaze me with her personality. She's aloof, but cuddly. She wants to be petted, and yet she'll walk away. 

Can't quite figure her out some days. Some days, she's a "mama's dog" and some days, I don't exist. 

Which is fine with me. We all have our days. Even our dog days. 







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