Days 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 (Or 15-21)

     Technically, I should be done with the 21-Day Fix, but since the mirror, my pictures, and my wardrobe say otherwise, I have decided to press on - at least until we leave for vacation.

     Since recovering from my injury, I have done the Upper, Lower  + 10 min Abs, Total Body Cardio, Pilates, Cardio, Upper, and D30. It's all over the map as I have been picking and choosing my workouts based on my mood - a major no-no. I know I'm supposed to be doing double workouts, but I keep putting that off...

     The past week has been a blur, but nutrition-wise, things have been deceptively simple. I have developed a rhythm as it comes to food preparation and choices; and instinctively, I know what I have eaten and need to eat as the day progresses. I'm no longer filling containers and packing food for the day, opting instead to opening the fridge when I'm hungry (which interestingly enough happens at 2 hour intervals), taking inventory, and making a choice based on what I have on hand and what's left to consume.

     I have added a smoothie component to my daily routine - 1 scoop whey protein powder, 4 oz of 1% milk, a handful of strawberries, half a peach, half a banana, and greek yogurt. I'm eyeballing the amount based on how much it took to fill one of those red containers- which is a lot.  I realize I'm might going over slightly with fruit, as I'm not measuring the 1/2 peach and strawberries out, but I'm not super-concerned as the fiber fills me up and it enhances the taste of the shake. These shakes are doing wonders to not only keep me satisfied for most of the morning/early afternoon, but they are helping me get my protein in, which I have struggled with.

     As I've mentioned before, I have never had a problem drinking enough water, and I've been consistently consuming between 64-96 oz per day. I've been doing some reading about helping the bpdy flush toxins (especially those produced by exercise), so I've taken to adding some freshly squeezed lemon juice and a few cucumber slices to my water container. It all started when I noticed that the big bowl of cucumber slices in the fridge had begun to freeze and I figured, why not use them to chill the water, since it hasn't been in the fridge long? (We distill then filter through a Brita.) But, since I have always felt that cucumber makes my water taste slightly salty - which is weird since cucumbers have no salt - I decided to add a few drops of the lemon juice that DBF uses in his H20, just so he can get some down at all.  We have so many cucumbers from the garden, it's another great way to consume them.

     The garden has been a godsend and has really kept the grocery bill down. It also makes DBF happy that the fruits of his labor are being consumed and enjoyed, rather than sitting and perishing as they had in past years. Once those plants start producing, it's a never-ending supply until fall that is difficult to keep up with, but I'm keeping pace! Other staples in the fridge have been sweet baby peppers, hard-boiled eggs, olives, hummus, and my balanced breaks. The salt on the nuts have begun to concern me, but these snacks are just the ticket when I start to get hungry. I would rather have one of these towards the end of the day when there's a genuine rumbly-in-my-tumbly than allow my body to panic and go into starvation mode. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I'm prepared. Turkey patties, and little fresh mozzarella pearls have also enhanced my offerings.

There were two breaded chicken cutlet strips left in the fridge, so I warmed them slightly and used them to top a tomato, cucumber, and sweet pepper salad with herb dressing.

Sliced turkey burger with tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, black olives, sweet peppers, and cucumber slices, with a squirt of herb dressing.

Warm grilled turkey burger over cucumber, sweet pepper slices, tomatoes, black olives, and mozzarella pearls with some dressing.

Shredded rotisserie chicken breast over tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, black olives, black beans, sweet pepper slices, cucumbers and herb dressing.

Shredded rotisserie chicken breast with black beans, olives, mozzarella pearls, tomatoes, pepper slices, cucumbers and a hint of hummus.

     I'm learning that I don't have to use a full container of a given ingredient in my salads, or for other meals or snacks, which offers a bit more variety. For instance, by cutting the milk in the shake by half (yellow), this leaves a half container of black beans to round out my salad and make it more satiating (in addition to adding another interesting texture). You might also be wondering about the mozzarella pearls: simply put, we bought them on sale and they needed to be eaten. They count as a blue, but as you can see above, by not filling the blue container completely, I was able to add some hummus, too. While I did use the container the measure the cheese each time - because I love cheese and could easily go over - I simply used a teaspoon to put a glob of hummus, as a bit more of that is a bit less damaging.
 
      And these salads are filling. I wind up eating them at about 3-4pm, which works out perfectly for dinner. Also, by having my other proteins earlier in the day, I wind up have some snap peas for a snack at around 7 or 8pm and I'm good for the night. And if I'm not, a balanced break goes great with my wine!

Day 17: Or is it 14?

     I have to work today. It's only 8:30- 12:30, but since we have practically no food left in the fridge, I pick up breakfast at the deli to eat when I get there. I can't bring stinky hard-boiled eggs, but I have no trouble eating a bacon (orange?) egg (red) and cheese (blue) sandwich (4 yellow).

     I do some food shopping after work and I'm still not hungry when I get home. After putting the groceries away, I change into my workout clothes and move the furniture before I get tempted to just sit down and relax. Since I lost 3 days, I decide to do the Cardio Fix instead of Yoga (which would be next after D30). I feel a bit weaker than I should, but I am sweating pretty well afterwards and cool down my core by finishing the full 32oz of water I brought in for the workout. I know I should fuel up a little and I need protein, so I toss some strawberries, yogurt and a scoop of protein powder in the blender with a few ice cubes. The smoothie could have used some citrus, but it was a quick, easy way to get the protein in (2 purple, 2 red).

     At about 3, I decide I need to get my greens in, so I have a handful of snap peas (green). This just gets my fires burning, so I get up for some cucumber slices and instead wind up mixing up the cucumber with some hearts of palm, sweet pepper slices and hardboiled egg topped with balsamic and olive oil herb dressing (2 green, 1 red, 1 tsp).

     DBF has to work late, so I top off the night with some wine while waiting for him to get home.

Day 16: Back to Basics

     Still feeling a bit of a twinge, but I know I can do today's workout as long as I take it easy on my ankle. I have to be creative nutrition-wise, as I won't be going food shopping until tomorrow.

     So, I have 1/2 an Ezekiel muffin (yellow) with peanut butter (tsp) with my coffee. DBF has thrown out the remainder of the yogurt, the rest of the hummus, as well as the rest of the strawberries. So now I have a real struggle for protein and fruit.

     I have decided that today's workout is Dirty 30 (where I left off). Since it's week 3, I should be doing two workouts today, but I really don't want to push my ankle and since I had a 3 day setback, I need to get back into it. (So glad I have those extra days.) I'm feeling excellent afterwards and once I finish my bottle of water, I decide to construct my salad.  Hearts of palm (green), sweet bell pepper slices (green), olives (orange), cucumber slices (green), tomatoes (I'm counting this as purple), hardboiled eggs (red). Another beauty:

     Again, I am fully satiated for several hours. I am longing to go in the pool, but it's another sunless day. At around 4pm, I decide to have a Balanced Break (blue) to hold off "dinner" until DBF gets home. By 6pm, I give up waiting and have a handful of snap peas (green) and the last burger patty (red) with a slice of smoked gouda. Yes, that counts as another blue - oh well. I'll console myself with a few glasses of wine before bed.

Day 15: The Road to Hell

     I still can't walk. I feel horrible that I can't do the workouts and I'm starting to get discouraged. I'm trying to keep up with the nutrition, but since I couldn't walk, we haven't gone food shopping yet; so we're running out of fruits and veggies that don't come from the garden. DD leaves again today, so maybe I can do an easy workout after she leaves.

     I keep up with the nutrition, but realize that I probably should have cut back on the calories since I'm not exercising. But since I'm in the lowest bracket as it is, I don't think I'm supposed to. I resolve myself to trying to fill up on as many greens as possible. Breakfast is the usual - Genesis slice with peanut butter. I decide to hard boil some eggs and slice up some hearts of palm and more sweet peppers. I know I need protein, so I have strawberries with greek yogurt and I'm good until about 1pm.

     Today's salad is stunningly gorgeous and incredibly satisfying.

I won't need to eat anything else until much later in the day, at which time I decide to have a Balanced Break. The inability to workout, coupled with the lack of sunlight which eliminates the possibility of gravity and impact free movement in the pool is really throwing a monkey-wrench into my plan. At least I have an extra 12 days that instead of being used to enhance, will instead help me to catch up.

I have a grilled beef patty - minus the potato roll because we ran out - at about 6pm and I am satisfied for the day. 

Wine and then bed - sounds about right. 

Day 14: Hell to Pay

     I literally cannot walk. My ankle is three times the size that it normally is and so tender, i cannot even massage the fluid out of it. I wrap it and elevate it and determine that there will be no workout today.

     I do, however, carefully track my nutrition so that at least without the workout, I won't go completely off the rails. I have to fight off my daughter every time I have a bowl of sliced veggies or fruit.  Genesis slice with peanut butter, garden cucumbers, sliced peppers, and snap peas with hummus (3 green and 1 blue); olives (orange), yogurt (red), strawberries (purple) - it's getting a bit redundant, but at least the repetition keeps me consistent. Protein is still the hardest for me to navigate, but DBF has grilled up some burgers, so I have one with a potato roll and count it as 2 reds and 2 yellows. I have diced mango (purple) with wine before bed.

Day 13: To Hell in a Handbasket

     I get up a little later this morning and may ankle is still weak and throbbing. I try to walk it out, but to no avail. I have my coffee and Genesis slice with peanut butter. I know that Dirty Thirty is out of the question, unless I want to exacerbate the injury, so I resolve myself to doing the Yoga instead. It's a nice break and I feel like I managed to keep myself going despite the setback. Of course, this feeling of accomplishment is short-lived as DD makes her way downstairs while I'm finishing up and not only continually interrupts me, but annoyingly makes discouraging comments. I'm glad to be done and feel deflated.

     I make sure to eat all of my green containers before we have to leave at 3:30. Tonight is the second concert we are attending with friends and they are Master Level Tailgaters. I know there will be burgers and hot dogs, along with rolls and most likely chips. Most of all, the alcoholic beverages will be flowing.

     What a great concert it was! St. Asonia, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin, and Disturbed were all excellent. Despite the pouring rain at an outdoor beach venue, we had a wonderful time with our friends. We got entries into the VIP area, so we wound up standing through the whole show. It was worth it through, we had a great view and easy access to food, beverages, and special bathrooms. The finally tally: 3 Mike's Hard Lemonades, hamburger with bun (1 red & 2 yellow) , hotdog with bun (2 yellow, and 4 orange?), 4 tostitos scoops, 1 glass of cabernet, 2 16oz Lime-a-Ritas.

     We are home by midnight and my ankle is screaming.

Day 12: Out in the Wild

     We have to leave the house at 11am to catch the train; but after a relatively late night, we struggle to get out of bed at 8. After some coffee, I force my self to eat a slice of Genesis with some peanut butter.  I surf the internet a little bit while still trying to wake up and before I know it, it's 9:30 already. I tell DBF he needs to get ready first, as I will be doing Cardio Fix from 10 -10;30 then jumping in the shower.

     We finally get to the city at 12:30 and we hold off on eating until we get downtown, as we had plans to eat lunch with DD. However, when we arrive, she tells us she's already had her break, so we get a brief preview of her exhibit, then head out into the village in search of sustenance. We find it in the form of "The Meatball Shop." This is where things get tricky.

     I am trying to stick as closely to 21-Day Fix guidelines as possible, but I am also tempted at the thought of a meatball parm hero. I settle on a combination of classic beef meatballs with classic tomato sauce served over market greens and "sink veggies". What we received was a dish of 3 meatballs over butter lettuce, corn, and avocado with cilantro lime dressing; squash, cherry tomato, and parsley; orzo with pesto and tomatoes; red beans and celery salad. This was such a delightful mix of textures, flavors and temperatures I was truly impressed. Based on the amounts of greens vs. grains vs. meat I resigned myself to this one dish representing all of my food for the rest of the day. It was filling and satisfying and I was truly satiated for the entire rest of the day.

     The rest of the day entailed DD's exhibit followed by retrieval of all her work, the emptying of her locker, and the eventual packing and move out of her dorm room. Once packed, we each had a suitcase and a shoulder bag to haul two blocks to the subway, down the stairs, onto the train, up the stairs into Penn Station, then back down the stairs and onto our train home. By the time we settled in at home, my ankle was throbbing, so I settled in and wrapped it up while attempting to anesthetize it with a few glasses of wine before bed.