Friday Favorites

Oh thank the good Lord that it is Friday!  On one hand this seemed like such a short week and on the other hand it seemed like an extremely long one.  I sure am ready for this "Whole30 energy" that everyone talks about to kick in.  Linking up with Amanda today!

Favorite Boys
I made my adolescent self VERY happy last night and saw these guys in concert!

Yall I used to be OBSESSED with NKOTB.  Like maybe I had the bedding set, curtains, sleeping bag, lunch box, dolls, tshirts, buttons and all of their cassette tapes.  Oh and who remembers their Saturday morning cartoon?

Favorite Whole30 Dinner

I cooked and cooked and cooked this week but I think my favorite thing I made was the Seared Steak Salad from the Whole30 Cookbook.

Favorite New Purchase

This weekend my mom and I are going to the Make a Wish Gala.  I bought a gorgeous dress that I will share on Monday and I knew I needed the perfect shoes but they had to be comfy for a long night on my feet.  I set out this week to find them and after 4 stores I hit the jackpot!

This picture doesn't do them justice. They are SO sparkly!  Now to find the perfect earrings.

Favorite Quote

I saw this on Pinterest this week and couldn't help but giggle.  Such a good reminder not to get bogged down by little things that go wrong!

I hope yall have a fabulous weekend!  Eat some chocolate and drink a margarita for me!

Cheers *Clink* Wednesdays

Since I spend most of my days surrounded by spirits (I sound like quite the lush) I thought I would start sharing some of my favorite cocktail recipes every Wednesday.  Some weeks I will share drinks I've actually made and sometimes I'll share recipes I found on Pinterest.  Since I'm 9 days into the Whole30 program, today's drink is something I pinned a few weeks ago.

C-Rita

What you'll need:

2 oz silver tequila

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz fresh lemon juice

0.5 oz fresh grapefruit juice

0.5 oz fresh orange juice

1 oz simple syrup

Lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit slices

What you'll do:

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously.  Strain into a tall glass with fresh ice and garnish with citrus slices.

Yall do me a favor and drink one for me too!

Whole30: Week 1

It's no secret around here that my new career has me insanely busy.  Between balancing my work life and my social life (which often become the same thing) I have been eating out a lot and drinking more than usual.  Now instead of cooking all of the time and having healthy lunches, I'm eating in my accounts Monday-Friday.  Who can choose a salad when you have amazing sushi, hamburgers and pasta staring you in the face all day and Hey! why not have a margarita with lunch?!  I do sell liquor after all!  Well after 2 months of living like this I felt like complete CRAP.  I was tired, cranky and saw visible fat forming where it had never been before.  Even though I was working out 5-6 days a week I was seeing no changes and it was due to my bad diet.  I had had enough and after researching and talking to a ton of people I decided to do the Whole30 program for the month of May.  When a friend said they'd do it with me, I knew there was no turning back.  

If you're not familiar with The Whole30 program, here's a quick rundown.  Basically it's a "short-term nutritional reset that is designed to put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system".  For 30 days I will cut out added sugar, alcohol, grains and legumes.  I will focus on eating meat, eggs, veggies, fruit and healthy fats like avocado and coconut oil.  

So what exactly have I been eating?  I'll show you!

Day 1 I made a scramble out of 1 scrambled egg, 1 fried egg, bell peppers and 1/2 an avocado.

Day 2 I made Mexican Tuna Boats and Gazpacho (note to self gazpacho makes A TON of food)

Day 3 Protein Salad eaten in my car between meetings

Day 4 Scramble with ground turkey, 1 scrambled egg, 1 fried egg, pico and avocado

Day 4 Shrimp stir fry with broccoli, green beans (the exception the the no legumes rule), carrots and mushrooms

Day 5 Grilled chicken with potatoes and a cabbage slaw.  The delicious looking sauce is a roasted red pepper sauce that I made from scratch from the Whole30 cookbook recipe.  Its to die for!

What do I like?

Yall I have loved everything I've made so far!  Yes, it's hard to cook every single day but if I make myself meal prep a couple of times a week it's really not that bad.  

What do I not like?

I will say this has been a lot more expensive than I originally thought it was going to be but I'm hopeful that now that I'm in the 2nd week things will level out a bit.

Cravings?

This weekend was especially hard because I spent 2 days shopping.  I went from wanting a burger and fries to a cookie and ice cream all day long.  The movies was hard because I wanted to have some kind of treat.

Energy levels?

Thursday and Friday were HARD yall.  Like I maybe cried because I was so exhausted and had 2 embarrassingly awful workouts.  I have been able to stay up a little later and not want to dive into my bed at 9 o'clock.  I'm hoping that big surge of energy in the morning happens soon!

Visible changes? 

So far I haven't seen any visible changes but I do feel lighter and less bloaty than I have in the past month.  

Today is Day 10 I'm 1/3 of the way through.  I know this will be amazing for my body but holy cow I just want some chocolate :)

Weekending

Hey yall!  Remember me?  I used to blog around these parts!  Jumping back in full force today to catch up on my weekend.

This weekend was interesting because it was my first full weekend doing the Whole 30 program (I started last Sunday).  Usually I spend my weekends trying out a new restaurant and having a couple of drinks but this weekend I had to get creative!  Friday night my friend A who is also doing Whole 30 with me came over and we ate whatever leftovers were in my fridge.  I think I had a little stir fry and tuna salad left over so we made a little smorgasbord of food.

Saturday we got up super early and headed out to the Dallas Farmer's Market.

This was my second time at the market and I am seriously in love!  I was surrounded by amazing looking produce and just wanted to buy it all and get to cooking.  I think I walked out with strawberries, grapes, onions, jalapeños, avocados, tomatoes and limes for $20!  Gotta love those prices.  I also went and bought a planter for my balcony so I can start growing my own herbs.  I can't stand that the ones I buy from the store go bad in like 2 days.  If yall have any tips on growing cilantro and parsley, let me know!

After running around I went and had my first round of cryotherapy at The CryoZone in Preston Hollow.  Yall that stuff is COOOOOOLD!  I know it's so good for your muscles especially when you are working out a ton but holy moly it was intense! I mean, -300 degrees?  NEGATIVE?!?!?!

Saturday night we ventured out to have dinner like 2 normal people at Origin Kitchen and Bar.  Their menu looked delicious and our waiter was amazing with all of our stipulations on food.  I was extremely nervous that there would be a mistake and I would end up eating something with cheese or cream in it however, the chef did an amazing job.  We ended the night at the movies to see Hot Pursuit.

The movie was hilarious and like always, Reece Witherspoon was such a doll! I will say it was SO hard to be at the movies and not have nachos, popcorn or M&Ms.  I snuck in some grapes and La Croix so I could still have a treat.

Sunday I got in a great workout at Beyond500 and did a little shopping.  I also whipped up a chimichurri sauce and a chipolte lime marinade for some of the steak I picked up at the Farmer's Market.  I feel like I'm constantly cooking on the Whole30 but I'll go more into detail about that tomorrow.

I hope yall had a great weekend and are having a fabulous Monday!  Linking up with Biana today!