My truths.

I've debated not writing this post.  I want and need to be honest though.  Our own worst critic is really ourselves, right?

[via hellolucky]

Last weekend was hard.  Really hard.  In light of the chaos going on in the world around me, you would think something monumental happened.  It didn't, but sometimes we just need time to wallow and feel a little sorry for ourselves.  To be honest, I don't get that feeling a lot; however with my injury and lack of running it's crept back all too often.  Between the injury, D's travel schedule, and Whole 30, I just haven't felt myself.  I think that's ok.  I've accepted that and need to change it.  

[via]

I need to talk about my Whole 30 truth.  This is my second round of Whole 30.  I did the first back in July 2012.  Back then I didn't complete the full 30 days, but the experience changed the way I eat forever.  I am still a huge advocate of Whole 30 and what it can do for you.  That said, 30 days is not realistic for me. I got to day 18 before I cheated with alcohol (which is actually an amazing feat).  I cheated because I got bad news about my injury and felt alcohol would help me feel a little better there isn't a good reason.  I was the strictest ever with this Whole 30.  I worked my ass off.  To break it down, this is why another Whole 30 is likely not realistic for me.

• I didn't/haven't lost any weight.  While Whole 30 is not and does not claim to be a weight loss method, cutting out bread, dairy, beans, & alcohol should lead you to some loss.  I have lost nothing even while continuing to work out.  
• 21 days in and I haven't felt a significant difference in myself like I did after the first W30.  I was sleeping better, but then I got sick (sinus gunk).  This had me not falling asleep quickly and waking up often throughout the night.  Clear skin?  Nada.  The only difference I've noticed it sleep.
• The money spent.  Last weekend, D calculated that we've spent approximately $500 in groceries during W30.  That is entirely too much considering D has been traveling much of the month, I don't buy a lot of meat, and nothing (with the exception of maybe a cucumber and some scallions) has gone bad.  This is an insane amount of money for 1 and a half people to eat for 19+ days.
• The energy spent made me unhappy.  In combination with the other seemingly negative things in my life right now, the time and energy spent shopping, cooking, and spending money has got me down.

My decision is that I will go through the remainder of food we have here.  When it's gone, W30 is done.  I'm going to keep alcohol kicked to the curb for the remainder of the 30 days.  I'm going to try my best to transition dairy in slowly and see how it affects my body.  Then transition bread.  I did think this Whole 9 article giving six reasons why W30 didn't work was informative.  Maybe my expectations were too high?  I found out that a full 30 days just isn't necessary for me.  I'm still interested to see how dairy & carbs effect my body.  If I get too comfortable with carbs, sugar, and cheese again, I just need to take a two-week sabbatical.  

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I am still a huge advocate of Whole 30 and what it can do for you.  

Let's eat :: Homemade salsa.

While Whole 30 is really getting to me these days (I'm just so tired of cooking and shopping), one good thing to come from this round is this salsa.  I already bragged on this last week.  Since the first batch went so fast, it was time to make another.  My recipe is adapted from this one over on Whole in 30.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans whole tomatoes, drained really well
• 1/2 to 3/4 a can of jalapeños (depending on how spicy you like your salsa)
• Handful of cilantro
• 1/2 yellow onion, cut into chunks
• 1 carrot, cut into pieces & peeled if you prefer
• 1/2 lime (or if you forgot to buy it, teaspoon of lime juice)
• 1 garlic clove or teaspoon of garlic powder
• Teaspoon of sea salt
• Teaspoon of cumin

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in the food processor or blender.  Process to your liking (I prefer my salsa thin, not chunky).  I find I prefer the salsa to be refrigerated for the flavors to meld a bit, but I also have no problem eating it straight out of the food processor.

This recipe is Whole 30 approved.  I found that unsweetened banana chips are a great (albeit much smaller) alternative to tortilla chips.  As Whole 30 would prefer, crispy veggies like cucumbers and carrot slices are also great for dipping!  

Food & Beer Friday :: In the persnickity tank.

Time to make a complete switch from all those stouts!  A couple of weeks ago, I had a day off and enjoyed this as my day drinking beer.  I'm a big fan of farmhouse ales, and Boulevard Brewing Company's Tank 7 did not disappoint!  Tank 7 is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale.  Farmhouse/saison beers are always drier in taste for me, which I enjoy.  It's a bit of a different take on the hops.  This beer is brewed with three types of hops and corn flakes!  I'm not sure those make much of a difference in flavor; however the hop flavor is evident.  I would definitely order this beer if I found it on draft somewhere.  I thoroughly enjoyed sipping on this brew.

While my pairing (or glassware) doesn't quite mesh with what Boulevard recommends, I drank with my left over Moo Shu tofu from one of our fav restaurants in Raleigh, Dave's Dumpling and Noodle Bar.  The dry finish and hops paired well with the sweet & spicy of the Moo Shu.

(As always, this beer was purchased from Tasty Beverage Company in Raleigh, NC)

CHEERS!

Do you have a favorite farmhouse or saison beer?

Sunday beer brunching.

You know how I mentioned that we went to a beer brunch recently?  It's just as amazing as it sounds.  Instead of the standard "beer dinner" you might attend, this is a brunch where dishes are paired with beers.  We went to the Raleigh Times 1st Annual Beer Brunch last year, and it was delicious and brutal.  They paired everything with breakfast-type stout beers which were high in alcohol.  The portions were massive.  I left feeling insanely full and a little too tipsy.

[You might recognize this outfit!]

This year, Raleigh Times got things right!

This line-up is pretty stellar, and the chef is pretty dang awesome!  Oh, and even though I'm vegetarian pescatarian flexitarian pescatarian, one of my personal exceptions for eating meat is beer dinners/brunches (which is a story for another day).

First course was a pancake topped with sausage (which I learned I really don't miss unless it's the spicy variety), molasses, and honey.  It was paired with the Mother Earth Tripel Over Head beer.  This is a great beer for those of you who enjoy beers of the lighter variety.  The sweetness, which isn't overpowering, has the amazing ability to hide the 9% alcohol that could quickly catch up to you.  This beer and pairing was pretty yummy.  It was a nice, light start to a brunch.

The second course was probably my favorite.  The frittata had duck confit (which I've had only a handful of times and has been amazing every time), mushrooms, and asparagus in it.  The green chili hollandaise was really where it was at though.  Everyone wanted bowls of that shit to go (apparently they don't do that).  The beer pairing was like the cherry on top for this course.  Stone Vertical Epic is a cool beer with an even better story.  Stone brewed one batch of this beer every year starting on 01.01.01.  They have continued with one batch every year as so: 02.02.02, 03.03.03...you get the idea.  These beers cost ridiculous amounts of money if you tried to get a hold of them now.  We were lucky enough to have the 11.11.11 version.  Perfection.

[No idea why Blogger decided to rotate this picture on its own]

This course was good!  The sorbet was delicious and a great palate cleanser; then there's the mimosa.  The Cascade Apricot was absolutely perfect for mixing with juice to make a mimosa.  I wouldn't recommend this beer alone unless you like sour beers.  I could drink that mimosa all day long.

Surprise!  The bloody mary wasn't on the menu!  That on the left is candied bacon.  The bloody went down oh, so smooth...

This course was a bit of a fail for me.  Remember how I mentioned portion-size was a problem?  This was a major problem.  And as a regular "non-meat eater," I just couldn't handle this one.  I took a few bites max and gave the rest to D.  The Mother Earth Silent Night on the other hand was amazing.  The pairing of the beer and food was really delicious, but I the meat just didn't work for me personally.

I wish the dessert would have focused a bit more, but let's face it, the photographer was not quite taking pictures at her prime at this point.  The chocolate mousse was really delicious, and you know I'm a fan of the Terrapin Liquid Bliss beer pairing.  The peanut brittle was super sweet for me, but I wish I could have eaten more of it.  

How did we leave after this year's beer brunch?  Luckily I could still walk in my heels, but we came home and crashed.  A little drunk and a lot full makes for a great nap.

Life lately :: It's pretty obvious I've recovered.

Since my last life lately post, I've kicked that damn sickness and am right back in the game!  I may have jumped in a little too hard though...but that's a story for another day ;)

 [So happy to rock out 6 miles in my new babies!]

 [After getting up early to run, I even made D breakfast...and I never make breakfast]

 [I graced us with these delicious carrot cake pancakes!  Use what you have at home...I subbed almonds for walnuts & buttermilk for almond milk, and they still turned out awesome!]

 [Thrilled to finally be reading this! Already over halfway done]

 [12 hour work day last week called for the usual morning run followed by a glowing green smoothie]

 [While I still drink my coffee sans sugar + cream, my latest obsession is this vanilla latte with almond milk from my local coffee shop]

 [Almost pale dinner, jalapeño cheddar salmon burger topped with an egg + pico + guac]

 [Based on advice from Kristin, I'm cutting out my tapered runs & getting in the quality long runs before the half in only three weeks.  Slow 8 is better than no 8!  I'll take it, and hope to improve my time for 10mi next week]

[Hung out with this little lovey this weekend while D was out of town.  I can't get enough of that little tongue sticking out!]

Lifestyle changes.

I never really did a Whole 30 recap of how our month went.  It's been a while but I'll say this: I'm a believer.  I have never slept better in my life.  My tension headaches (that have plagued me almost daily for years) have practically disappeared.  I feel better than I have in a long, long time.  I stopped fully doing Whole 30 right before my Austin trip.  The best thing about Whole 30 has been the long-lasting lifestyle changes I've made since.

One of my favorite lifestyle changes that I began while doing Whole 30 was smoothies!  I switched my routine to gym in the mornings (best change ever!), so smoothies & boiled eggs are staples.  I make my smoothies the night before.  Whole 30 isn't a huge advocate for smoothies, but I make sure to load up with more veggies than fruit & use no artificial sweeteners or dairy.

I love that I can pretty much throw any combination in and have a decent breakfast.  My favorite smoothie combo so far consists of these ingredients:

 [Pumpkin, mango, spinach, carrots, coconut milk, + cinnamon]

That's literally it.  I only add some extra water to make blending easier.  The fruit adds enough sweetness & the "carby" pumpkin keeps me full even after my am run.  

While I haven't been so good about staying away from dairy cheese and carbs within the past couple of weeks (which I am totally contributing to last weekend's bought of sickness), I try to mostly base all of my meals around primarily fruits & veggies.

I wish I could afford to eat Whole Foods salad bar daily.  My usual from there is a salad topped with egg salad and strawberries & cashews on the side.  I feel the best when the majority of my meals are like this.  I eat a ton of eggs over greens with fruit on the side.  I didn't go crazy over finishing whole 30 (i.e. indulging in every single "bad" item I couldn't eat), but I definitely have let myself get a bit too lenient.  Seriously though, it's a big deal when I choose to order a salad at a restaurant.  Boo ya...lifestyle change.

My am gym routine allows me to go to a yoga class every Wednesday.  It's an easy wake-up class that is never crowded!  I love the teacher & it's the best to start the day with.  It's reminded me of my love for yoga, so I've broke out my yoga DVDs again.  It's tough balancing running, yoga, & strength training, but I feel a million times better.

These days I actually want to work out.  I've finally gotten to that point that I love the way working out makes me feel, makes me look.  While I am still trying to get down to that goal weight (and planning to reward myself greatly when I do), I just enjoy feeling this way.  I broke out Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 to use on days that I can't quite fit in the gym.  I know continued strength training will help my running game, and let's me honest...I want to lose that beer belly that's continually hanging on!

These are lifestyle changes that I hope really stick.  I know that if I keep in mind how different I feel now, I better keep it up!

Do you know the capital of Texas?

Yeah, it's Austin (and dammit, that picture I thought I snagged of the Capital Building was no where to be found)!  I popped in real quick for a weekend!  I'll give you just my weekend in pictures!

 [Boo ya.  Bumped up to economy comfort! Extra leg room for the win!]

 [I wear this dress all the time, which is perfect for traveling.  Paired with a clearance Target necklace.]

 [My hotel was right on 6th Street, so I spent Friday night exploring that crazy place.]

 [Amazingly delicious Patrón Mango Mint Margarita at Iron Cactus]

 [Picked up a 6-pack of Pearl Snap at Royal Blue Grocery before heading back to the hotel for the night]

 [Had to dress light and flowy for the heat and humidity for my first full day]

 [My walk the in the opposite direction on 6th Street]

 [Conveniently ran into a Whole Foods with a taqueria!  Most amazing and perfect discovery!]

[Sat outside Whole Foods with the best egg & vegan chorizo taco of my life]

 [Perfect hotel positioning as the farmers' market was on Guadalupe, perpendicular to 6th]

 [Red Rabbit Bakery at the Market]

 [I never order sweets...especially donuts.  When in Rome?]

 [And I chose filled?!  The local, organic peach filling was totally worth it]

 [I literally walked everywhere.  Even across the Congress Ave. bridge.  I shouldn't complain about the heat though; I'm in awe of the number of runners I saw out at 11:45!]

 [Ms. P's Electric Cock Fried Chicken...if D would have been with me, we would have stopped]

 [Because I knew D would be proud...an all Texas beer sampler at Hopdoddy's]

[Amy's] 

 [While sweets aren't the norm, I couldn't resist the "black metal stout" (with alcohol in it!) topped with Twixx!]

 [Started Sunday off in the best way with brunch at Max's]

 [Jalapeño-cheese grits topped with spicy pulled pork, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, pickled jalapeños, & a fried egg.  Amazing.]

[Finished my day off trying to detox and settle my tummy at Halcyon]

Linking up with Hollie today!  I've found some of my fav new blogs this way!