Weekend Round-up

Happy Monday Lovelies...
It is definitely a Monday! However, it's a 2 day work week for me so I'm trying NOT to have the Monday blues. After all this week has SO much in store! Not only is it a 2 day work week (for the first time for me since 2008), my grandmas are already in town, the rest of the family is coming Thursday for yummy food, then shopping, putting up Christmas decorations and a rivalry football game! Seriously, what more could you ask for in a week? The first week of December is going to be a let down after all those shenanigans!

This weekend was what I would call productive! Friday after I got off work I met the parentals at the mall because mom called me at 4:30 and said that Belk was having a huge sale on boots. This was an acutual phone conversation with my dad when I called to say I was on my way...
Me: On my way to meet y'all at Belk to find boots
Dad: Well they have a ton and they are on sale so you better get your booty over here!
#thingsdadssay

Unfortunately, boot shopping proved to be unsuccessful. Between Friday night and today at lunch I have probably tried on 35-45 pairs of boots and NONE fit! I have been everywhere in the Columbia area. I have tried on wide calf boots, stretchy boots etc. nothing! So frustrating to have big calves. I was at one shoe store and the MALE clerk said he felt sorry for the women with small calves because the boots gap and are too bit and don't look right. I shot him a look and said "well, sir, you are a man you don't really get to have an opinion on that." I realize that was a bit harsh but at this point I had been to so many stores and tried on about 15 pair.. I really didn't need his commentary on the situation, just please direct me to the wide calf boot area.
This is what happens to me:

I think I'm going to write a song called "Fat Calf Girls" instead of "Fat Bottom Girls..." Maybe when I lose some weight the weight will come from the calves too... #wishfulthinking

I digress... moving on to the more positive portion of the weekend. I was productive around the house Saturday morning while Will worked. I cleaned the kitchen, straighten several cabinets in there, cleaned out a cabinet in the guest bath, reorganized my sweater storage, got a hook for my purses in the kitchen and made the pinterest project with shower curtain rings on a hanger to store my scarves. Loving it! Just a few more things to re-organize before I can pull out the Christmas decor!!

Sunday we went to church and then afterward had a Sunday Funday at the Columbia Art Musuem. We went to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. She is extraordinary American photographer that has taken pictures of iconic images and pictures of our culture. The exhibit was about her pilgrimage into photography as a profession. This picture of Niagra Falls was the start of it all...



We also walked around the other galleries which displayed various pieces of art dating all the way back to the 1300s. Incredible that they still exist much less in great condition. One of my favorite works was this chandelier... it took 10 years to make and it was made from 1880-1890. I mean seriously, it's made of glass and it's been around since the late 1800s crazy! It's absolutely stunning in person!

 

Our museum also has an original Chihuly hanging in the foyer. It is STUNNING! I love how it looks like it's on fire!  

After the museum we took a brisk walk down a block to the Mast General store and got some sugar free candy, well Will did. I got my favorite grapefruit gummies. So delish. I had a few, but not the whole bag so I'm not counting that as a cheat! :)

Speaking of Whole30, I did pretty decent over the weekend but not as good as I had been doing. Still eating lots of fruit and protein, but I had some cheese this weekend. It was delicious. I guess I fell off the wagon a bit... but I'm right back on today. I will weigh tomorrow morning, I forgot to this morning and when I remembered I was already dressed. I plan to stick to it for the most part this week except on Thursday... I mean Thanksgiving is only once a year.

I hope you all have a lovely holiday week! I'm certainly looking forward to the festivities, but not the COLD! Stay warm and stay safe in this crazy winter weather that is sweeping the country!

Stay lovely...
MG 

Gleeful it's the Weekend

Friday! Made it. It's been a week for sure! So much so I have NO food porn to share. Oops! I swear I have been sticking with Whole30 diet though! To prove it I'll continue to list what I ate, again, accountability!

Tuesday Day 19:
Dinner: Had the mango chille chicken at Chili's. It was pretty good, I subbed out the rice for sweet potato fries. I didn't eat them all either.

Wednesday Day 20:
Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled & ham, grapefruit
Lunch: Left over chicken from Tuesday night, turkey burger patty, fruit
Dinner: Tomato Soup & Asparagus (I realize that this isn't exactly Whole30, but I didn't eat the whole can and I was craving it) there are worse things I could have eaten.

Thursday Day 21:
Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled & ham, grapefruit
Lunch: We had our Thanksgiving lunch at work. I was pretty strong. I had collards, green beans, a deviled egg, ham and  turkey. I had a little bit of a bite of pumpkin cake. This is like the first bit of pure sugar I've had. I paid for it all afternoon, my stomach was like WTF mate?
Dinner: Was still full from lunch so I had an apple before babysitting, then I got the munchies while babysitting, but she had some cashews so I had that.

Friday Day 22:
Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled & ham, grapefruit
Lunch: left over collards, turkey patty, apple & mandarines
Dinner: I'm making a surprise chicken dish for Will to eat, it's not Whole30, so I will just bake me a piece of chicken. Broccoli and some fruit for the sides.

I won't be weighing again until Monday morning. I'm going to have a low-key weekend of chores around the house and getting it ready for company next week and putting out Christmas decorations. Plus I don't want to spend my days off next week cleaning/organizing. I'm actually getting really excited to decorate for the holidays!
Last year since I was in graduate school my decorations basically just got slung up and I didn't go all out. I wanted to, but didn't have the time, energy or will to care. This year is different! Except I need to find a money tree so I can afford to buy some more decorations for my tree. In my head I have a picture of what I want my tree to look like, but don't know how to achieve it cheaply!
I have started shopping... in fact, I'm DONE with my 3 cousins gifts and I think I'm done with Will's gifts, unless I find something he just can't live without. I am going to attempt to tackle black Friday shopping on Thursday at Walmart at 6pm. I really hate to shop on that day, but they have several things that are on my list to get for gifts at great prices so I really can't not go!
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend if for nothing else to know that next week is a short week & my favorite holiday!! What can I say... I LOVE to eat! :)

It's Friday so that means we need to get on to #backthatazzup! I have been watching Glee on netflix from the beginning. It was one of those shows I always wanted to watch, but it came on at the same time as another show I watched and I couldn't take on another show. (Obviously this was before I had a DVR, netflix or HuLu) Anyways, I love it! The story lines are cheesy (mmm cheese) but the music is great! So I thought I'd share one of my favorite songs from the show. I have actually been a fan of this song since RENT, but the duet from Rachel and Mercedes renewed my love for it! :)

 

Stay lovely...

6 pounds down & a zipped skirt

We had a busy but yet, relaxing weekend.
Friday night I babysat my boys. Being in their house with lots of yummy snacky foods and tons of Halloween candy was tough! I resisted and ate my spaghetti squash.. bleh.

Saturday morning after a slow wake up, we went to Waffle House (at Will's request.) I wanted a waffle SO bad but again, I resisted! I ate 3 eggs and 3 slices of bacon. It was yummy, but waffle house is always yummy. They really do have the best eggs and even if I've had eggs in some way shape or form for the last 19 days, these were the best. Maybe because I didn't have to cook them! :)

 

After breakfast we made a mad dash through the dollar store to get items to pack our shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. Somehow I let it slip up on me this year and so it was a bit last minute, but it got done! We chose to do a little girl age 2-4. I found some of the cutest things to put in my box for a pre-schooler. The bad blogger that I am, didn't take any pictures of my box. :( However, we included: a coloring book with crayons, 3 toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, a full size towel, a bath book, play food/dish set, and of course a doll. Precious! I know these boxes reach millions of children around and bless their Christmas. I love that something so simple means so much.

 When we got home from running errands, I got busy prepping our food for tailgate! So busy in fact that I forgot to eat lunch so I had an apple. When we got to tailgate I unpacked our healthy snacks.. cashews & grapes to munch on. Then we grilled our burgers and warmed up our veggies and potatoes. It was a delicious meal! Tailgating with class I tell 'ya!

USC won the game, it was close as FL clearly had USCs number and the refs made some horrible calls. I speak so highly of the Gamecocks this week... forget that come Nov. 30!

Sunday we went to church, I skipped bfast. Ran out of time getting ready! Oops! After church we went to Lizard's Thicket. It's a local country cookin' type of restaurant. Sounds awful, but is decent. I had pot roast, collards and green beans and I may or may not have had a piece of cornbread. #cheat

 

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed binge watching our favorite shows, Nashville, Grey's and Parenthood. It was nasty and rainy outside and it felt amazing to ignore house work etc. and just spend time together being lazy. I also had a headache and felt crummy so that made it even more excusable!

Sunday night I became a fruitarian and had an apple and grapes for dinner while I watched Glee.

Monday: I weighed. Again, I know I'm not suppose to. BUT it's so encouraging and reminds me why I'm doing this in the first place. DOWN SIX LBs since day 1!!! So exciting!!
Breakfast: Eggs and OJ
Lunch: This delicious salad from Subway. 

 

Dinner: Hamburger steak, mushrooms, sweet potato.

Tuesday- Day 19:

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs + 2 pieces of ham

Lunch: turkey burger (patty only) + sweet potato

Dinner: I have a dinner meeting at Chilli's so hopefully I will be able to find something. Stay tuned.

Cravings:

Still craving cheese like a mad woman. Seriously, would probably kill for it at this point. 

 

Look how happy this little mouse is eating his yummy cheese. In 11 days I will be this mouse!

I'm also still craving bagel bites, or really any pizza for that matter. Probably b/c it contains cheese.

Also last night I had a craving for chocolate (for the first time) I blame this on female issues... I may have caved with a fun size dark chocolate. Oops. I couldn't help it, the hormones won out!

 

This morning was the highlight however. I put on, zipped and I am comfortably wearing a skirt that would not zip just 26 days ago! I wanted to wear said skirt when I went to see the local production of Grease with my parents and Will October 25th and it wouldn't fit. I have it on today, it looks great and I'm comfortable! Woo hoo! *Insert happy dance here* Although it probably looks like this...

 

Oh Kim... your hiney is so big... bless. I feel ya.

Stay lovely...

MG

Whole30 and Weekend Update

I realize that it's Thursday and I'm just getting in an update! I've been busy this week and haven't had time to blog! I've been too busy cooking... more on that in a bit.

The weekend in Rock Hill was so much fun! We got there about 8 Friday night and ate dinner with my friend, she fixed a healthy dinner of terriyaki baked chicken & stir fry veggies. I appreciate her being so accommodating! :)
Saturday- Day 9: 
Breakfast: scrabbled eggs & ham
Lunch: tailgate! below is our table of goodies! My friends made low-country boil, which I didn't eat, but we had plenty to eat with munchie food! The university also gave Chic-fil-a to alumni.. I gave mine to Will because I'm the best girlfriend ever! :)

Dinner: Went to White Horse and I cheated a bit and had the apple sticks that I bragged so much about! It was only b/c I haven't eaten them in 5 years and probably won't for quite sometime. I'm ok with my decision to cheat a bit. I had a hamburger steak and sweet potato for my actual dinner. Yum!

Here is a pic of Katie (to my left) and Jessica (to my right)... this is one of the last pictures w/o babies! Crazy! This time next year there will be 2 in this picture! So amazing!!

I went and visited my sorority tent.. and talked to some other alums that were there and some current sisters. None of my close sisters were there this weekend, but can't pass up a pic with the letters! :)

Will & I after the game! We won! Which is always good!

Sunday- Day 10: 
Breakfast: eggs and ham
Lunch: we went to Katie's in-laws and had lunch after church. I didn't want to be rude so I had to eat. We had country fried steak (I scraped all the flour off), carrots and green beans. I'm sure it had butter in it and other things I shouldn't have but I didn't eat much, just enough to be full.
Dinner: On the way back to town we grabbed Subway. I had their new double chopped chicken salad. VERY GOOD! & They have a new balsamic vinaigrette dressing! Delish!

Monday- Day 11:
Breakfast: again eggs (poached) and ham plus a banana

Lunch: Will had the day off in observance of Veteran's day and actually ended up on my side of town where I work near lunch time so he took me to Hu Hot. I ate there about a week ago, but I can get meat and veggies and go light on the sauce so that was perfect!!
Dinner: We grilled out! Filet's, sauteed mushrooms and peppers and a sweet potato! It's meals like this that I can't believe I'm "dieting." Honestly, I'm not, I'm just eating healthy!

Tuesday- Day 12:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs & ham
Lunch: I had brought left over chicken soup from last week, but I couldn't eat it. So I kinda snacked through lunch. I had some cashews, grapes, apple and the left over peppers and mushrooms from the night before. Not the best lunch but I couldn't stomach the soup!
Dinner: I attempted to roast chicken and broccoli, and cook a butternut squash. Yes, it look appetizing, but my chicken was dry, the broccoli was salty and the squash tasted disgusting. I'd never had butternut before and I won't be having it again. Ick!

Wednesday- Day 13:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, ham, banana
Lunch: left over dry roasted chicken and sweet potato, apple
Snack: raw peppers
Dinner: "Spaghetti" I made the sauce from scratch, it was decent! I added ground turkey and mushrooms then we ate it over spaghetti squash. It was edible and I have it for lunch again today. It made a TON! This is probably what we will eat Sunday after church.

 

Let me take the opportunity on Day 14 to share my thoughts and feelings about Whole30. 

Here are the ways I can tell it's working:

• I go to sleep easy, I sleep like a baby, and I wake up refreshed and ready to go!
• My acne has cleared up significantly. Face, back etc. I can tell a HUGE difference in my skin. Now, I know it has to do with the diet, but not specifically the foods I'm eating. I've only been drinking water and unsweet tea so that always helps skin and I haven't eaten greasy fast-food processed food in 14 days. Also a major factor in the cause of acne. 
• Energy. I don't have an afternoon slump. And this weekend when I needed to stay up late it was hard, but I was able to w/o falling asleep on the couch! :)

Here are ways I can tell it's not working the way I want it to:

• At last check (which I know you are suppose to check at all) on Monday I weighed 4lbs less than on day 1. I'm weighing every 5 days, so let's hope another 2lbs is gone on Saturday morning. Although I haven't had time to walk/exercise this week. Too busy flipping cooking! Ugh! 
• My pants are freaking tighter than last week. I have on a pair of pants I had on last Wednesday or Thursday and the buttoned, to day they are uncomfortably buttoned. #ridiculous Although the guide/timeline says this is expected until sometime next week. #hurryupandpass
• Cheese. This diet needs cheese. I'm dying w/o it. Last night that spaghetti would have been excellent with a little sprinkled Parmesan, instead it was just so-so. Cheese WILL BE the first thing I add back in! 

It's exciting to know I'm nearly half way through! Unfortunately the later half of the month is where most of the poor food choices could come into play, ie. office Thanksgiving lunch, Thanksgiving with family and then the BIG rivalry football game on the last day of the month! I intend on keeping this up after the 30 days have passed. But just not as strict. I'm definitely going to continue to stay away from fast-food/processed food and keep drinking only water. I haven't even had unsweetened tea since Monday! So I think I'm over the caffeine withdrawal.

I have another tailgate to attend this weekend, but it's just me and Will and we are taking a portable grill so more hamburger steak it is! :) If it weren't for beef, eggs, sweet potatoes and fruit I'd be starving 90% of the time! :) Have a great rest of the week... I'll probably have a song to #backthatazzup to tomorrow!
Stay lovely...

 

Go Eagles Go!

It's nearly the weekend & we have an exciting one on deck, but first let's get this Whole30 update out of the way!

Whole30 is still going great! I had so much energy last night I stayed up until 11:45 cooking, cleaning and packing! The only time I sat on the sofa was to fold clothes! Yay! For being productive!
Day 6-Wednesday:
Breakfast: Egg Mc-Nuthin, Fruit, Unsweet Tea
Lunch: Chicken soup (again), g-beans, apple
Snack: Banana & Cashews
Dinner: Tillapia, Rutabaga, Acorn Squash and Cabbage

Day 7- Thursday:
Breakfast: Egg McNuthin, 3 Scrambled Eggs, 3oz OJ
Lunch: Wendy's Apple Pecan Salad (picked off blue cheese), Unsweet Tea
Snack: Banana & Cashews
Dinner: Steak, Sauteed Mushrooms and Peppers, leftover Rutabaga

I mean look at all that delishiousness!! Am I really on a diet??

We are off to Rock Hill, SC for my Alma Mater's Homecoming! We don't have football but basketball & since I graduated they have moved homecoming festivities from February to November. Not really sure why other than now students/alumni can tailgate for this game and for obvious reasons November has better weather!

Obviously my friends are not on a diet so I have already had to plan out & cook some of my meals for the weekend!
Breakfast: Egg Mc-Nuthin's & banana (I really hope I don't get tired of them!)
Tailgate: Fruit- grapes, apples, mandarin oranges, pineapple
           Veggies- green, orange, yellow, red peppers, carrots, broccoli, guacamole to dip it in
After game dinner: We are going to one of my favorite local restaurants that I ate at EVERY weekend in college (probably why I'm now on a diet!) It's called White Horse and they literally have everything on their menu. I can get a steak and a sweet potato and salad so I'm good! They have a famous appetizer that I love called Apple Sticks and they are like fried apple sauce dipped in whip cream. Unreal. So good. To cheat or not cheat?? It's apple....
Sunday I will have the same breakfast as usual, but not sure of the plan after church. At least most places have salad as an option so I think I'll be ok!

Last night I got crafty and made this cute pin to wear to tailgate! I LOVE it! Sometimes I forget how creative I love to be and don't have time for it. This little project only took me about 45 minutes to make, but then I made a second one for my BFF and that one only took me 20min. It's a perfect addition to my outfit for tomorrow's game!

                                         

It is #backthatazzup Friday over at I Wore Yoga Pants so I will post a song that has been my jam this fall and Miranda and Keith performed it LIVE for the first time on the CMAs the other night! I LOVE this song!! The lyrics and story don't really apply to me, but I love the beat!

 

Wishing everyone a safe and lovely weekend...

 

Thin-spiration Thursday

The Country Music Association Awards were last night and there were some stunning country stars on the red carpet! Thought I would share a few of my favorites!

Let's start with some serious Thin-spiration!! Miranda! Good grief! What a difference a year makes! I've always thought of her as a "bigger woman," she's not petite by any means, & I loved her for that and embracing her body! I guess she got tired of the pregnancy rumors and decided to drop a few pounds and a few jaws! She looks AMAZING!! Her dress was stunning and perfect for her!

                                                   2012                                                2013

Let's move on to my personal favorite thin-spiration: Miss Carrie.
Her red carpet look was stunning, the hair the dress everything! Wow! & a great performance was made... by her legs...

A few more of my favorites from last night:

 

Until tomorrow's Whole30 update... stay lovely...

Weightloss Wednesday

I'm officially on day 6 of the Whole30! Can't believe it's almost been a week! I'm so glad I started on the 1st of the month so I can keep up with what day I'm on! I'm also glad I started the weekend the time changed. I think that has really helped me to feel refreshed and ready to get up in the mornings!  

So far I can tell a change in:

• The way I sleep and the way I feel when I wake up.
• My skin... acne is clearing considerably. 
• Energy level is elevated. I don't have an afternoon slump.
• Less bloated

The pants I wore yesterday seemed to fit better than when I wore them last week. Not sure if that's really the case or if it's just in my head. Same with the pants today, so maybe it is true. I have cheated and stepped on the scale. I have a fascination with scales I think! I tried to stop myself but I wanted to know if any progress had been made in the past 5 days and according to my scale I'm 2lbs down since last Friday morning. So 2lbs in 5 days... if that keeps up I should lose 12lbs in the month?? Wishful hopeful thinking! :)

I am exercising here and there. Monday I walked a mile and 1/2. & I plan on walking/going to the gym tonight and Thursday.

Cravings:
The book (and website) suggest that you write your cravings as a way of kind of working through them. I've only had a few...

• Cheese (& this morning I wanted a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit so bad!)
• Icecream
• Pizza

Clearly all of mine are dairy based and a little bit of grains. Oh and sugar! Ha. But I haven't caved once! SO proud of myself because there is definitely a piece of Halloween candy left in the bowl on my coffee table! Go me!

Yesterday afternoon was the first time I got hungry in between meals and I had forgotten my jar of cashews to snack on. So from about 3:30-5 yesterday I was kinda miserable and kept thinking about food during a meeting! I had chicken soup (with carrots and mushrooms), left over sweet potato, and a pear for lunch. Funny how all that didn't hold me but my egg mcnuthin and banana held me until lunch! 
Tuesday's Lunch

So when I got home after work and voting I was close to becoming a monster. *Sorry for the things I said and how I acted when I was hungry* and fixed 4 eggs and 3 pieces of ham, a handful of cashews and a 3oz glass of OJ. I realize that OJ is NOT Whole30, but I counted it as a fruit. I realize it had sugar in it, but it is Simply Orange brand (the very best) and I had already had 2 pieces of fruit yesterday and really wanted OJ to go with my bfast for dinner! :) Plus I figure a little more vitamin c won't hurt! So sorry I'm not sorry I had OJ on my Whole30!
Tuesday's Dinner

 

Wednesday- Day 6:

Breakfast: Egg McNuthin, pear, unsweet tea

Lunch: more chicken soup, green beans, apple 

Snack: Banana and handful of cashews

Workout: walking 2 miles

Dinner: to be determined.... I have the veggies, but I need to go and find meat!

I know I have only been blogging about the Whole30 lately, but lately that's all that's been going on. Nothing exciting or new about work, love life or social life. This weekend we will be going to Rock Hill, SC to spend time with my college friends at my alma mater's Homecoming! Very excited to sport my Winthrop colors, tailgates, & cheer on the Eagles (in basketball)! All while eating Whole30 style. Is that possible at a tailgate?? We'll find out.... :) Stay lovely...

Unsweetened tea?

Hello Day 4 of The Whole30! Starting a diet on a Friday was the best & the worst! It was the worst b/c I spent the weekend out of town, ie. eating out, but it was the best b/c I didn't feel like I was starting my week out with a new thing. One less thing to add to the grossness of Monday is fine by me!

Friday aka DAY 1: I did pretty good Friday & with all the car drama I really didn't have an appetite. This was my dinner Friday night. Strawberries, Asparagus and "Egg Mcnuthin's." (As my dad has named them!) I will maybe do a blog post of the recipe and how to make them! They are delicious! So much so that I made more to have for breakfasts this week. That plus a piece of fruit in the mornings is the ultimate yummy, healthy grab-n-go!

Saturday- Day 2: 
Breakfast: Banana & Boiled Egg
Lunch: Went out to eat to Ruby Tuesday had a 6oz sirloin, broccoli and spaghetti squash! It was healthy and delicious and I was STARVING! I ate every bite and by the time it came to the table I was about to devour it whole so I didn't snap a pic. I highly recommend the spaghetti squash!
Dinner: Again, we were out of town and out and about so I had a Zaxby's Grilled Club Zalad. It has a tiny bit of cheese on it as well as onion straws and the vinaigrette dressing which I'm sure contains sugar. Honestly though I didn't feel bad about making the choice to eat a little cheese and the onion straws. I realize it's not a part of Whole30 BUT it was maybe 2 tbsp. Life is to short!
Saturday was by far the hardest day so far, mainly because we were out and about and I was out of my routine. I also had a headache the majority of the afternoon. I know that was a symptom that the book said was going to happen, but I think part of it was a caffeine withdrawl headache because I didn't have coffee that morning, and obviously soft drinks are OUT!

Sunday- Day 3:
Breakfast: Ham, eggs, fruit and coffee. Fixed all this at my gmas house. Great way to start day 3.

Lunch: We took the gmas to S&S cafeteria (along with every other old person after Sunday service) and had some yummy food. It was SO hard to pass up the Mac & Cheese. I ended up with Roast Beef, Sweet Potatoes (again I'm sure it had a bit of butter and sugar, but it wasn't covered in Marshmallows) and Green beans. This meal held me a LONG time! I also had to get ahead of having another caffeine headache. The coffee and my gmas house was caffeine free and I knew I couldn't spend another afternoon with a headache. So I let go of my southern roots and grabbed an unsweetened tea! *collective gasp* For a while before the Whole 30 I had been having half sweet and half un-sweet if I had tea at all and honestly I like unsweetened tea! It gives me the caffeine fix and it's something different than water to drink. Now, that being said it was my old glass for the day all other meals was H20! :)

Dinner: I didn't even eat until 7:45, but that was mainly because I was in the kitchen whipping up some food for tonight, lunches and breakfast for this week. The chicken had marinated in Weber brand lemon pepper (no MSG) and lemon juice since Thursday night! YUM! Broccoli and a sweet potato were excellent side items! I went to bed very full and pretty proud of my food choices.

Here is a picture of my "egg mc-nuthin's" and my chicken soup I made for breakfasts and lunches this week! The soup is chicken broth, chicken, carrots and mushrooms!

Monday: Day 4
Breakfast: "Egg Mc-Nuthin," Banana, & Unsweetened Tea! Y'all it really is good! Is it even possible to put the word y'all anywhere near the word "unsweetened tea?" I promise it won't hurt you and the actual taste of TEA is good! So good in fact I think I will make my own instead of going through the BoJangles drive threw. Biscuits look especially amazing when you can't have them!
Lunch: I went with my manager to Hu Hot Mongolian Grill to celebrate her birthday... instead of eating my soup. Womp Womp. BUT I had beef and veggies. I had broccoli, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, pineapple and mango. I went light on the sauce. Again, I understand that Whole30 wants you to eliminate all sugars, but sometimes it's just not possible. A little bit of teriyaki cooked with meat and veggies has to be permitted rather than a cup cake. I have not had ANY sweets since Thursday and I can already tell a difference in the way I feel. I woke up refreshed this morning and ready to go! It's the afternoon here and so far no slump! I am ready to go to the gym for a quick hour of cardio.
I knew going into this that I couldn't be completely strict with this diet, I can't always afford the organic/hormone free meats and veggies, or like this weekend it wasn't available to me. But I know I will feel better and probably lose weight cutting out any grains, white foods, sugar, beans, etc. In just 4 days it has made me really aware of what goes in. So far, so good. I look forward to experiencing all the stages that the Whole30 website says one will go through of this diet.
Dinner: Pretty much the same as last night, more chicken, another sweet potato and green beans!

A little more about the weekend: we went to visit my gmas and this beautiful tree was at one of their houses. How can you not love fall?? All that color against a crisp blue sky! God's handy work indeed! Stay lovely...

Hypnotizing

Well Well Well. It's Friday and the kinda morning I've had it feels like it's a Monday after a long weekend or Friday the 13th. Either is fitting. All was well this morning until I was half way to work and my "check engine soon" light made an appearance. I'm headed out of town after work today so clearly this was not an ideal situation. I got to work and called the car dealership. They happily got me worked in, I took my car, they brought me back to work, and then I sat and worried about the outcome. The phone rang 2 hours later and the problem can simply be fixed with $325. Fantastic. I would tell you what was wrong with it but the technical car terms the service manager used were to elaborate for my understanding. I did have my dad call up there (b/c that's what us southern girls do, we call our dads!) and it was a legit problem. All is fixed... but my bank account.

Moving on...
I had an all out tv binge last night complete with frozen pizza. Hey, it was my "last supper" after all. I watched Wednesday night's episode of Nashville, followed by Grey's Anatomy and finally rounding out the evening was Parenthood. My 3 favorite shows in one night, courtesy of Hulu, ABC and NBC. I think I have a problem.

I have started my Whole30 Challenge. I had all intentions of eating 2 eggs, a banana and a hand full of cashews for breakfast but with the craziness that happened as I would have been eating my breakfast I didn't get down the 2 eggs. The banana and nuts had to suffice. I have made a delicious lunch of Italian chicken, broccoli and a sweet potato. & mom has some new dish up her
sleeve for dinner to night before we make a mad dash to Greenville. So far... on track.

Since it is Friday it's time to #backthatazzup with Whitney over at I Wore Yoga Pants.
As you may (or may not) know I am obsessed with Nashville the TV show and I have to say Wednesday night's episode was one of the best!! Season 2 is kicking! Love it! Anyways, there have been SOO many good songs this season so many I want to share, but there isn't a digital copy yet. If you are a Spotify listener you can find any of the songs on there just search Nashville Cast.
This week in the show they took a song from Season 1 performed by Hayden Panettiere called "Hypnotizing," slowed it down and made it acoustic. AMAZING! I'm putting in the original track to #backthatazzup to... but it is well worth the watch on the episode and hopefully they re-release the revised version as a single! In fact I think I'm going to re-watch the show on my ipad during my lunch! It's that good! If you don't watch you are missing out! Enjoy your Friday! Stay lovely...