20 days in the (w)hole

Jason and I are about two-thirds of the way through the Whole 30 and I feel like we've turned a pretty big corner. It's taken a while to get to this point though. According to the Whole 30 timeline, we should have started feeling really good around Day 12. In reality, we were both still feeling tired every day and dealing with on and off late-day headaches. That's probably because our bodies were still reeling from the lack of sugar and carbs and also working overtime to shed our extra lbs.

Today ... I feel great. I feel good about what I'm eating. I feel lighter. Healthier. Just ... better. I think I'm starting to really experience what this program is all about. I'm also looking forward to the end! The last day is now just a week and a half away, and so I'm thinking about what I am going to get to eat again when this is all over. Cream in my coffee is first on the list!

But even after I start reintroducing forbidden foods back in, I think I am still going to try to stick to an 80/20 Paleo diet. I don't think I have it in me to be all in, all the time. Some of the food blogs say it is all or nothing, but others say you can still reap the benefits by eating most of your meals according to the rules and then splurging a few times a week. I like those blogs better :)

I've found that I really like cooking Whole 30 recipes. For one thing, most of them are pretty simple and use relatively few ingredients. I guess that's the whole point, right? No more wandering aimlessly around the grocery store and then coming home with a hundred dollars worth of stuff that can't make a meal. Now I know exactly what I need and what I can use. It's less intimidating and I've actually started taking on most of the planning, shopping, and cooking. Jason still handles most (well, probably all) of the meat prep though.

We'll see how it goes! I still have 10 days of the Whole 30 before I start my 80/20 Paleo adventure ... and a week in Mexico for Spring Break where I will be following few food rules, if any!

Happy 3rd birthday to James!

Although the Whole 30 diet kept Jason and I from enjoying a piece of this lovely Paw Patrol cake, we still had a wonderful time celebrating the big 3 with our nephew James.

Three years old

It looks like Molly is featured in this photo, but that's because James will only look in the direction of the camera for a split second at a time. I do not have the shutter speed to get grins on both kids. As you can see, they are growing up fast!

All good things must come to an end

Obviously, we're devastated about the series finale of Downton Abbey. Although it was a total feel-good finale where everyone finds happiness and love, I still felt sad the whole way through just thinking about how much I will miss the characters.

What else will we have to look forward to on Sundays? Well ... I have a few things up my sleeve. I've been testing out a few new shows and am looking forward to seeing what sticks.

• There's Vinyl, the new Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger 1970s rock and roll throwback show on HBO. It's completely entertaining, slightly ridiculous, and has the added bonus of Bobby Cannavale, who is an amazing force of nature
• We're one season into Mr. Robot, the moody hacker show on USA that recently won the Golden Globe for best drama. Jason and I were so hooked on the first season, we watched all 10 episodes in about a week -- no easy task when you really only have the hours from 9 to 11 pm to work with!
• I am almost finished with the second season of Transparent on Amazon, which I love. Jeffrey Tambor is amazing, of course, but I find myself almost more interested in the side plots. Especially the one with the son, Josh, who had an affair with his nanny 20 years ago and is still dealing with the fall out
• That's probably enough TV for me, but I couldn't help also checking out the new Showtime show, Billions. It stars Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti ... who could resist? Not me. I'll be finishing out the season on nights when Jason draws!

Whole 30

I promise I won't spend the next 30 days talking about food, but for handful of reasons, Jason and I have decided to try the Whole 30 program. It's pretty similar to the Paleo diet. We basically eat protein, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fat for 30 days. No dairy, no sugar, no grains, no alcohol. Also, no legumes, which is easy for me because I cut them out of my diet years ago.

The whole point is that it is supposed to break your bad food habits (like grabbing handfuls of leftover Halloween candy every night before watching TV) and help you figure out if you have any food sensitivities. I don't think I have any hidden food sensitivities (other than legumes), but I definitely need help kicking my sugar addiction!

It sounds hard ... but so far, it really hasn't been that bad. I miss putting cream in my coffee, but am loving the guilt-free avocado, bacon, and cashews. I've also made some really yummy recipes that I never would have attempted without proper motivation, like gingered zucchini soup and Brussels sprouts, blueberries, and bacon salad.

We officially started the program on Sunday, but I started phasing in Paleo meals 2 weeks ago so it wouldn't be too much of a shock to my system. So far, I'm feeling pretty good. Healthy and productive. 3 days down ... 27 to go!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We were unable to find a babysitter this weekend -- it's a long weekend for the Evanston school district, so my high school sitters are out of town, and my Northwestern sitters all have date parties to go to. Tough luck, but it's also kind of nice to be home this cold and snowy weekend celebrating with my two favorite people!

Jason was sweet enough to buy flowers and chocolate for both me and Molly -- Molly was SO happy to be included and to have her own bouquet. And we're going to make a Marcus Samuelsson coconut steamed cod recipe tonight. Yum. It's not the Valentine's Day we originally planned, but it seems like it's working out okay!

The Valentine's shrine

None for 2016

Remember my one goal for 2016? To lose the snooze? It turns out that this one simple resolution is not so simple after all.

Usually I start the new year strong, feeling good about all of my resolutions, and then end up losing momentum a few months in. This year, I can't even get started!! I was able to wake up on time, at the first alarm, a whopping TWO TIMES in January.

Is anyone surprised? I do love sleep and have always struggled to get out of bed in the morning. This is a 20-year habit I'm attempting to break here. Why was I so naive and optimistic?

I have reduced the number of times I hit the snooze button every morning. I think I'm averaging 1-2 times instead of 2-3, which means I'm getting up about 10 minutes earlier. Progress. Baby steps.

But I'm still left scrambling to get out the door every morning. I'm not working out or getting a jump on the news.

I have been able to make coffee and unload the dishwasher most mornings. That's good. But I'm still leaving with my hair partially wet every day. Bad.

Maybe February will be the month when it all falls into place. I'm starting out 0 for 2, but I still have 19 working days to go. Wish me luck!

Ski trip

Now that we have so many relatives living in Colorado, we thought it would be worth our while to start learning how to ski. We're not exactly in the middle of the mountains here in Chicago, but Wisconsin does have a few gentle slopes that are perfect for learning.

We took our first trip last weekend to Cascade Mountain near the Wisconsin Dells (added bonus ... indoor water parks!) and had so much fun. Molly did 3 hours of ski school each day and loved it. They had pop music playing by the chair lifts and high school kids teaching the class -- perfect for a 5-year-old. Molly learned how to move around in skis and snowplow down the bunny hill. Everyone in the gear rental room remembered her name when we came through and we ended each day with hot chocolate. I think it was a pretty good intro to skiing all around.

Jason and I also took a class on Saturday. I was not sure how that was going to go at all -- Jason had never been skiing and I hadn't been since high school. But the instructor was really good and both Jason and I were able to get down the green (easy) trails with minimal wipe-outs after the lesson. The second day was even better because with Molly in ski school for 3 hours, Jason and I had the freedom to explore and enjoy the morning together. We ended up discovering a nice leisurely trail near the edge of the mountain that was almost completely empty and very fun to ski down.

Before this trip, I had been kind of intimidated by the whole process, but people were so friendly and laid back and happy to help skiing newbies, I ended up loving the whole experience. Rocky Mountains ... we're coming for you!