Let’s call it… an update.

Last week was crazy because my kids were home sick every single day, and we were juggling doctors’ appointments, cuddles, meds, and work.

This week was crazy because my kids were home sick every single day last week, and we needed to catch up. Michael and I also started on Monday our nutrition challenge with our CrossFit gym, which has meant a pretty drastic lifestyle change and a hell of a lot more time in the kitchen preparing things. Also? I took on a cookie decorating and photo slideshow job for a friend of mine, which ate up every evening this week.

Speaking of eating… (I did say “ate,” didn’t I?)

Let’s pause for just a second while we reflect on the fact that I TOOK ON A COOKIE DECORATING PROJECT the very same week I GAVE UP SUGAR AND CARBS. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. But I did learn that I have a hell of a lot more willpower than I ever knew, as I did not have one single bite, lick, or taste of neither the cookies nor the frosting. Oh, I wanted to. When I was done rolling the dough and cutting out the cookies, there is always just a teeny bit of superfluous dough that is not big enough to make another roll-out cookie. I usually pop that delicious, buttery dough right into my mouth as a reward for my efforts, but not this time. I shaped it into a small circular cookie and baked it up and let Nora have it a couple of nights later. And oh man, when I was working with that wonderfully sugar-filled royal icing, there were a couple of times when I MOST DEFINITELY wanted to lick that spoon before I put it into the sink. But nope.

So I’ve been very good this week. No cheats. But that doesn’t mean it’s been going particularly well. Last night, I was feeling mighty rage-y, and this morning I was not in the best of moods, either. I assume it’s my body going through some sugar/carb withdrawals, but if this truly IS “withdrawals,” they’re not as bad as I expected them to be. I love sugar and surely eat more than I should on the regular, so I would’ve expected the withdrawals to be tougher. And sure, I would love to grab a big sandwich right now, or eat a cookie, or pop a few M&Ms into my mouth—don’t get me wrong. But the actual CRAVINGS, so far, have not been awful, either.

One thing I have to note… have you ever weighed yourself on a Monday? After a weekend of a few beers, some wine, eating out at a restaurant, and some extra “treats”? DON’T DO IT. For the love of God, don’t do it. Normally, I weigh myself maybe once or twice a week, just to keep on top of it and make sure nothing crazy is happening. But NEVER on Mondays. This past Monday, though, I was forced to step on a scale to get my starting weight for the nutrition challenge, and I had to do it in front of my trainer, who recorded it. YOU. GUYS. I saw a weight I have not seen in years. It was a good 6-7 lbs. heavier than I’ve averaged the last several months, and 7 lbs. more than what I had weighed ON FRIDAY. I knew it wasn’t “real” weight gain (I didn’t go THAT crazy… BLOAT IS REAL!), but still… that was rough. The good news is that I’m already “down” 6.5 pounds on the challenge since my body did go back to (my) normal within a few days, which kind of feels like cheating. But it’s not like I purposely bulked up, so whatever. I’M not counting it as weight loss.

{Paleo Pad Thai – Very good!}

Anyway, back to the “nutrition” part of this… the first two days, I was freaking STARVING all of the time. I could’ve eaten just 10 minutes before—and rather sizable meals, too—but no matter, my stomach was already like W.T.F. GIVE ME MORE FOOD. GIVE ME CARBS. The hunger has leveled out and now I’m more just depressed by my lack of food choices. And I know I don’t REALLY lack food choices but it certainly feels that way. The diet itself is basically paleo, but with a few optional modifications (we can eat legumes in moderation, can have “natural” dairy in moderation, etc.). But the cleaner we eat, the more points we get—it’s not just a “diet,” it’s a challenge and there is competition involved!—so we’re trying to stay away from that stuff when possible.

I’m having the most trouble with meat, which as you can imagine, is a huge part of the paleo diet. I’m not a huge meat eater normally, although we do usually have it at least a few times a week. But when I eat meat it’s usually IN stuff. I’m eating shredded chicken in a rice dish, or ground beef in sauce for spaghetti. Or meat in tortillas, or inside of a BUN. Now, all of those lovely “wrapper” foods that help disguise the meat for me are prohibited. I ate a chicken breast all on its own for lunch yesterday and it was… grossing me out.

Then Michael and I made burgers (with cauliflower “rice” and roasted veggies) for dinner last night and we, of course, ate them bunless—and with mustard, no ketchup!—and I’ll be honest, I was just miserable about it. I questioned multiple times yesterday why I am doing this to myself. I’m not even unhappy with my body, I just think it could probably be better and wanted to take on the challenge to experiment. But I was thinking to myself, There is no way in the world that I am going to be able to sustain this type of eating long-term, so what is the point? Might as well just give up now!

I talked myself down off of that ledge (for now), and we are on Day 5. Of 35. The struggle is real, my friends. But I’m hoping I can get into a groove. There is so much PLANNING and PREPARATION involved, and I knew that going into it—you should’ve seen the size of our grocery list last weekend, *cough* $245 later *cough*—but it was a different story to live it. I’m hoping we can take some of the lessons learned this week and apply them to next to make it easier on ourselves. More variety in recipes (and just more of them in general—we need to COOK lunches, not just dinners). Bigger batches of everything we make so that there are healthy amounts of leftovers.

A CHALLENGE, indeed. I’m sure this won’t be the last time I talk about it. But tips from any of you veteran paleo or Whole30 folks are always appreciated.

Switching gears…

I realized I never updated with a post about the outcome of my hair. I didn’t end up doing any color/highlights this time—maybe next!—but I did get a healthy cut. When she first started cutting, I looked down at the floor and said, “Is that all you’re taking off?” Surprised, she said, “What? You think I should do more? It’s a good 3 inches.” But my hair still looked so… LONG. But we stuck with her judgment and I like how it turned out. It wasn’t a huge, drastic change but it was definitely noticeably lighter and easier to manage for me, which makes sense since it was a cut that was so long overdue.

Anyway, here’s the “before” again, followed by the “after” pic:

Again, no actual color change (lighting is just way different between the pics). Maybe I’ll get more brave with my next appointment and go for something more different. I do like this, though, so we’ll see. :)

On a side note, I have been using doTERRA’s hair products (they contain essential oils) for about a month now and I LOVE. I have never really had any particular loyalty to hair products in the past, I just bought off the shelf at Target, things that were on sale. I received the doTERRA hair products as a reward—so for free—and I think I’m going to have to fork over the cash to use them from now on. They are paraben and sulfate free. I’ve tried other “natural” shampoo and conditioner and they made my hair feel… dry or something. The only natural conditioner I used before didn’t seem like it was really conditioning, but this one does.

And kind of a funny anecdote to add to this testimonial, but important nonetheless. This time of year, I typically have MAJOR problems with static in my hair. Change my clothes? Static. Wear a sweater? Static. Put on or take off my coat? Static. It has been inescapable in the past, just something I need to deal with in the wintertime. Since I’ve started using the doTERRA shampoo and conditioner? No static. Not once. No kidding. Anyway, I liked the products a lot even before my haircut, but now I LOVE them since I’m using them on healthier hair.

Any and all questions about essential oils or doTERRA… email me at heatherdriveblog at yahoo dot com. There’s still a really great promo going on, and I’m going to be placing another one of my own orders in a couple of weeks. As always, I’d love to get you the wholesale discount!

And with that, I will sign off for now. Happy Friday, all. Enjoy the weekend.