Identity Theft

If someone asked you to use one word describe who YOU are, what would you say? Daughter? Student? Friend? Barista? Server? Girlfriend?  Lawyer? Wife? Mom? At various points of my life, any one of those words would have described who I was. Maybe not the entire picture but close enough. In any case, it really wasn’t anything I thought about too hard until I had my first daughter in 2010.  I remember being warned about the lack of sleep and the diaper changes, the unexplained crying, the teething, but for the life of me I cannot ever remember being warned that with the cutting of the umbilical cord, my life would be unrecognizable.  Nor did I realize that this alien life would stick around for YEARS.

For decades, I woke up every day and went to school, or to work. As a total type A, once there I did what I could to succeed. You see, part of who I was, was an achiever. I NEEDED the validation that came from being really good at something, even when I didn’t even really care about the outcome. Then suddenly, the only thing that people judged me for was being O’s mom. It was as if the things that made me me vanished with the placenta. We were living on Roosevelt Island at the time, which might be the strangest place on earth, and I remember feeling so alone. D was at work until all hours. It NEVER stopped snowing that winter and I was at home with a baby that I didn’t know the first thing about taking care of. People would call to check in, and it seemed like they would ask how I was doing as an after thought, as though how I was coping didn’t really matter. I felt myself disappearing.

At the time I chalked these feelings up as part of my postpartum depression (more on that another day) and buried them deep down. But these things never stay buried. They have a way of coming out and my way is via anger. I am sure D will tell you that O’s entire first year of life was no picnic in our house. I was resentful that my life was completely and totally different, while his was 95% the same as it ever was. Resentful may be an understatement. I was enraged that he got to keep on keeping on while I? Brought O to weird music classes in a dank room of a local temple. This was not what I envisioned.

In fact, I ALWAYS planned to go back to work. Logistically, it was hard to figure out how to make this work with two lawyers working long hours. I knew that fair or unfair if shit went down with O, I was the one who had to be there. Not only that, I WANTED to be that person. I just couldn’t square that circle in my head. I wanted to stay at home with her and be the kind of parent that I didn’t have BUT…I also wanted something for me. I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat the shit out of it. Before you get all haughty on me (and I KNOW there are some of you who are hating me) I realize I am lucky that we were financially able to allow me to stay home with O. My feelings about returning to work were not based on the need for more money (though of course we can always use more of that) OR my love of being a lawyer (which I didn’t even feel). The immediate feelings of needing to feel like myself again were what drove me to throw my hat in the ring.  I attempted to find a job as a part time litigator, at a firm close to home. HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Lawyer friends, I will give you a minute for that nonsense to sink in. I quickly learned there is NO such thing as a part-time litigator. Basically, I got paid shit to be in some weird kind of lawyer-mom limbo. It was less than ideal.

From there I found a temporary document review position close to my home. It was kind of awesome because it was 9-5 and I never had to take any work home with me. In fact, it required minimal effort on my part and I got paid handsomely. It lasted until I was forced to relocate after Hurricane Sandy. Then I found out I was pregnant with S, and I just lost all mojo for finding another position. I felt trapped in this life that I created. I really and truly didn’t know how to recapture me.

I know this will sound corny, but this is where a friend and her Facebook post changed my life. Shortly after S was born, I was desperate to shed some baby weight, and feel better about myself. I couldn’t fathom taking the girls to the gym with me, so I needed an at home solution. My friend is a Beachbody coach, and she urged me to join one of her support and accountability groups. I did and it changed my life in more ways than one. I NEVER thought joining her group would lead me to a second career running my own health/fitness coaching business. Anyone who knows me can vouch that this was so far outside the realm of possible career paths for me, but I finally have something that is MINE. I genuinely love helping people find pieces of themselves again. It is a privilege that I get to be part of someone’s journey to become a better version of themselves.  I don’t claim to be an expert or perfect. I struggle just as much, maybe more, as the rest of you. But I wont give up, especially now that I feel like me again after so long. Now I can add coach to that list of words that describe me, and I like how that feels.

 

Days 18-21 Final wrap up

These last few days were definitely the toughest. Not only were there more temptations thrown at me, I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been. I am a firm believer in being outside as much as possible during the warmer months. Accordingly, I could never have done this during the throes of summer. There just wouldn’t be enough prep time. I was also REALLY missing my workouts. I need them for stress relief! However, I made a commitment and once I decide to do something, it gets done. I am so happy I finished strong. I am down 9 lbs and so many inches ( didn’t measure yet…have to ask D to help me). The weight loss is only part of the story though.

I used to chew like a pack of gum a day. I also drank at least 3 cups of coffee. I haven’t had either since the reset started, and I can honestly say that it has been fine. I know that at some point in my life I will have coffee ( I love it) and gum but I want it to be an every now and then thing, not an addiction. It’s a slippery slope though, so for now it is best to just stay away for as long as I can. Besides not working out, eliminating these items from my diet were the scariest aspects of the reset to me before I started.  I am super proud of myself for curbing these habits.

I thought I would be a lunatic if I didn’t workout everyday. What they say is true though. The reset is an internal workout and I was so consumed with prepping etc., that I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would. I did miss it though. I don’t think I was a lunatic, but you will have to contact my family for confirmation on this one.

I went into this hating tomatoes with a passion. I liked them in sauce and ketchup form and that was it. Even salsa was hit or miss. Now? I adore them. SOOOO strange.  Same thing with tea. I was ALWAYS a coffee person. I liked iced tea, sure, like Snapple or whatever. But real hot tea? NOT even a little bit. Funny, because now I drink at least 2 cups a day and found some amazing flavors by Yogi and Harney and Sons.

This program took me so far outside my comfort zone and pushed me in ways that I never foresaw. I learned that even when I am hungry, I can wait 30 minutes to prepare clean healthy food. I don’t need to grab the easiest thing. I learned that it is ok to ask the people at Fairway what an ingredient is, and not to care when they look at you like you are the biggest moron they have ever encountered (Note: this happened once. Everyone else was perfectly helpful). I learned that even when you don’t enjoy cooking, there is satisfaction in preparing food for yourself. I learned that I need a bigger sink because the amount of dishes were almost the death of me. I learned that doing this with a support team and close friends and relatives, makes ALL the difference in the world. I cannot wait to do this again in January!

Day 17

Woke up feeling like super mom. I had such a ridiculous amount of energy for 5:00 am, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. I wrote a blog post; did some work, a load of laundry, packed food and bags for the beach, cleaned out my hall closet (a miracle in and of itself), set aside clothing for donations and prepped for lunch and dinner, all before O and S woke up.  It felt great to be so productive so early, and I felt ahead of the game all day. I really hope this energy burst continues, especially since it has officially been 17 days sans caffeine. I cannot even believe I wrote that. I NEVER thought that was possible.

Lunch was Moroccan Carrot salad over baby greens. It was so amazingly good, but spicy as hell. If you have an aversion to things with a kick, stay far away from this one (or leave out the OPTIONAL cayenne pepper). My mouth was on fire for a while after, but in a good way. Say what? I will absolutely make this one again (and again).

After lunch it was off to the beach to meet AJ, Aunt A, and Cousins E and S. This was our maiden voyage this year because the weather just hasn’t been that great so far this season. It was such an awesome day. O and S had the best time with their cousins. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive to take S to the beach because she is such a spaz when it comes to the pool (read: thinks she can jump right in when she absolutely cannot). Thankfully, she was content to hang out along the shore and dip her toes in. However, she did take off after the big girls when they went for a walk. AJ and I made a valiant attempt to distract her with snacks, but she wasn’t having it. She marched her little legs down the beach in search of her cousins, and I had no choice but to tag along. She made it 3 beaches, there and back, no small feat for a 2 year old. Her determination is unreal. Hopefully, she decides to use her powers for good, not evil.

Out of nowhere, the temperature dropped so we decided to pack it up. We got in the car and both girls looked like they were about to pass out. Not cool, considering it was 4:30 pm, and the drive home is 5 minutes. If they fell asleep, it would SERIOUSLY destroy bedtime, so I launched into operation No Car Naps. For those who don’t know, late afternoon car naps are despised by most (if not all) moms. In the mind of  a child, the 5 minute car nap correlates to a 3 hour regular nap, thereby pushing bedtime off by HOURS. Not gonna happen. So… I rolled down all the windows, blasted their favorite songs and sang at the top of my lungs like a complete lunatic. When I noticed one of them getting a little droopy in the eyelid, I yelled their name super loud, startling them into alertness. And the Mother of the Year award goes to…

Dinner was a repeat from Monday. Garlic veggies and baked sweet potato. So good. D worked late which meant that I had the tv to myself. I was able to catch up on a few episodes of OITNB and this weeks RHONY. Today was a GOOD day.

days 15 and 16

Normally, I wake up at 5:00 am and sit down to write my blog post about the previous day. I slept in yesterday because O woke up in the middle of the night crying from ear pain. It was a looooooong night and I could barely form a coherent thought, let alone blog about it. I gave myself permission to combine day 15 and 16. Hope you guys weren’t too devastated about my missing post yesterday. I just know you were all sitting there, holding your breath in anticipation.

Day 15 was the first official day of Camp Mom, aka the three weeks between the end of school and the start of camp. As a work at home mom, the struggle is real. It is so hard to carve out time to get work done. Couple that with having to fill soooooooo many hours to occupy an active toddler and pre-schooler? I have anxiety just typing that. Day 15 was also the first day of phase 3, a week consisting of solely fruit and vegetable based meals. My timing is nothing short of impeccable.

For breakfast (and for every breakfast this week) I had a gigantic fruit plate. Seriously, it was the most fruit I have ever consumed in one sitting. I also discovered that Kiwi triggers my oral allergy syndrome (along with Mango). Of course, I have no adult Benadryl in the house so I took a hefty dose of grape flavored Children’s Benadryl. By 8:00 I was ready for a nap. Took a 15 minute disco nap and I felt better.

I made plans to go to Brooklyn to see my coach and friend, M. She has two girls who are around the same ages as my lunatics. Our friend S and her 2 kids also came over. M, S and I are all doing the Ultimate Reset, so that made taking the kiddos for pizza and ice cream so much easier. There is definite strength in numbers in that regard. If you plan to do the reset, I definitely recommend finding a buddy (or 90), because having close friends and relatives PLUS a support group has made this process so much easier for me. M also introduced me to the most amazing raspberry tea. Seriously, do yourselves a favor and check out Harney and Sons, Red Raspberry tea. You’re welcome.

The kids got along so well it was unreal. There was NO drama at all, which NEVER happens in my experience. It was so nice. I ate my lunch (microgreen salad with avocado and garlic dressing with toasted pumpkin seeds) before I left the house. I also prepared my dinner (baked sweet potato with garlic veggies) before I left the house and brought it with me. Both meals were awesome. In fact, I am pretty sure the microgreen salad will be my lunch going forward (most days anyway). I just love it. We didn’t leave Brooklyn until close to 8:00, so it was right to bed for O and S when we got home. Camp Mom day 1? Success!

Day 15 3/4-Day 16- O woke up at around 10:45 from a bad dream. She went back to sleep and then woke up a few hours later crying that her ear was hurting her. She was begging me to take her to the doctor. Say what? It was so sad trying to explain that we had to wait a few hours until the office opened. She passed out from sheer exhaustion at around 5:00 am. We got the first available appointment and lo and behold. She has yet another ear infection. She has had 5 of them this year, which is more than her previous three years combined. Poor kiddo. At the least the medicine is pink.

Dinner was curried cauliflower with lemon-pepper kale. This was so good. I really loved it and can’t wait to have it again. Bonus, it was so easy to prepare, which after 2 plus weeks of heavy food prep was a nice break. Side note: I definitely made the food prep aspect of the reset a LOT harder than it needed to be. There are many options and hints for making it easier and less time consuming. However, I got it into my head that I needed to try every single recipe so there was a lot of food waste and a TON of prep. I have since given up this quest.

weekend wrap up 2- days 12,13,14

This was a pretty hectic weekend. O’s graduation was on Friday. The ceremony itself was beyond adorable. The school did  a REALLY nice job of putting it together. We spent the rest of the day hanging with O’s friends and it was awesome. Breakfast was a chocolate cherry shake (amazing). I brought my lunch with us (another microgreen salad with toasted pumpkin seeds- love it but there is n’t much more I can say about it that hasn’t already been said) along with my trust gallon jug of distilled water. Dinner was AWESOME. Roasted beets and coconut collard greens- never in my life did I think that I would love a dinner like this. NEVER. It was really so good.  Confession: I had no IDEA what collard greens looked like before my shopping trip with Friend S (she didn’t either). I love that this is broadening my horizons. After dinner, I met Friend S at Trader Joes so we could prepare for Phase 3! I cannot believe 2 weeks are down. Totally crazy to me.  Side note: how OLD are we? Friday night at Trader Joes???? What has become of me?

We spent Saturday hanging around the house because S wasn’t feeling well. Aunt A, S, E and grandma came by to say hello which was awesome, and totally made O and S’s day. Breakfast was another shake (trying to get my fill because after Sunday, no breakfast shakes are allowed. Lunch was roasted beets (yes!) with a microgreen salad. Dinner was Kabocha squash with garlic tahini sauce and broccoli. Say what? I went to 4 different stores before I found a kabocha squash (thank you Fruit Bowl). I had to google the thing before I had any idea what i was even looking for.  Pro-tip: cutting a kabocha squash is similar to cutting a spaghetti squash, soften in the microwave before attempting to cut. I didn’t do this at first and wound up cutting my arm with a giant serrated knife. Just a surface wound, but a battle scar nonetheless. It was worth it though. That garlic tahini sauce will DEFINITELY be used again and again post reset. I will be honest and say that I probably will not make kabocha squash again. I didn’t love it and it was such a pain in the ass to cut. That sauce though? Amazing.

O had two back to back birthday parties on Sunday. Under normal circumstances, this would never happen. I would definitely decline one of the two. However, one was for my niece S and the other was for N, my camp friend’s daughter. O and N get along so well, I couldn’t say no. Since, we were going to be out of the house ALL day, I had to plan in advance. Lunch was soup made from the remainder of the kabocha squash and coconut milk, plus you guessed it…a microgreen salad. It was AMAZING. My ‘soup” had the consistency of mashed potatoes because I clearly messed something up, but it didn’t matter. It was so good.  I ate before we left the house because soup and salad really aren’t portable menu items when your dining room is a car, and you are the driver. Before the reset, my sweet tooth was out of hand. A taste of this here, a bite there. These parties would have been TORTURE for me. I can honestly say that I wasn’t fazed by the pizza, cake and cupcakes at ALL! That is a HUGE NSV (non-scale victory for the uninitiated).

Dinner was AMAZING. Edamame and roasted corn succotash. Pro-tip: Trader Joes carries Soycatash- a frozen bag of edamame, red peppers and corn and nothing else added- 3 of the main ingredients in the succotash. Next time, I will use this to save time because this will definitely be a staple going forward. It was served with Lemon-Pepper Kale. The Lemon-Pepper Kale didn’t contain pepper of any kind so I thought the name was a little ridiculous. In any case, I went in thinking I would hate this. Generally, I dislike Kale, but this dish was really good. After dinner, I needed to decompress because this week starts camp-mom, which is going to be rough as a work at home mom. I watched the first two episodes of the new season of Orange is the New Black, and I am already trying to figure out when I can watch the rest. O and S have custody of my iPad during the day (don’t judge me- see above, work at home mom), so things aren’t looking good for me this week.

Day 11

Today was the first day I felt REALLY annoyed by the program. I don’t know if it is because I didn’t prep that well and I had a ton of errands to run or what. It definitely stressed me out knowing that I had to meal prep before I could eat. In any event, it showed me that I really need to prep better. This Sunday, I plan to prep as many things in advance as I can for next week. Being a short order cook is not for me. In the interest of freshness, I will also take Wednesday to prep for the remainder of the week. I hope this makes a difference for me, as I plan to do the program backwards for the 21 days following my official reset. I am not sure if D and Friend S are on board for that so I might be flying solo. We shall see.

Breakfast was a shake, which I love obviously. Lunch was quinoa and lentil salad (love that there are more repeats in week 2- makes life a LOT easier) and a cucumber and tomato salad. Both were delicious.  Dinner was tricky. I spent most of the day running errands- picking up gifts for O’s teachers, getting birthday presents, dry cleaning- fun times. Usually, I have the late afternoons free to make up for whatever prep I failed to do the night before. Today, however, we had O’s end of the year party. I really cannot stress enough how much I love her class. The teachers and the kids are all so amazing. It really was such a special year. Side note: the amount of ice cream, donuts, cupcakes, cookies, etc., at this party was VERY hard to resist. I am proud to say that resist, I did. Not even a taste. This was the first time I felt even remotely tempted. I think my mood had something to do with it, proving once again that I am an emotional eater. I am proud of myself for not giving in.

We got home after 5:00 p.m. and the thought of just starting dinner did not thrill me. Luckily, the reset has certain “quick” options for when you are pressed for time. I used quotation marks for a reason. While, the recipes did involve less steps than some of the other traditional recipes, they were definitely more involved than my normal fare. I must say that I give vegans a TON of credit because you have to REALLY believe in this way of life for it not to feel like a grind. Or maybe I am missing some shortcuts? Hey vegans…any prep short cuts you want to throw my way for the next few weeks? I would be eternally grateful.  Dinner wound up being garlic vegetables (so good) with quinoa and miso soup. It was worth waiting for.

Bedtime was hard as O is really struggling with school ending this week. She keeps saying that she wishes it was the first day of Miss B’s class and not the last. She has cried over it at least 5 times this week and I just feel helpless. I know exactly how she feels, yet I don’t know how to make it better. Before bed last night she said “I am happy I have these memories, I just wish Miss B, Miss S and Miss L were the only teachers in the world so that I could always have them”. My sweet little O, such an old soul. Tomorrow is graduation! I cannot believe O is going to Kindergarten. I am feeling very Sunrise, Sunset over here this week.

Day 10

I woke up early with a ton of energy so I decided I would do some yoga, just to get my body moving. I have really been missing my workouts. I know I sound like a douche when I say things like that, but I rely on my workouts to keep me sane. Literally. It felt really good to get up and move. Had a shake for breakfast, which was awesome. I am really going to miss my shakes next week.

We dropped O off at school, and she was really clingy at drop off. I asked her what was wrong ,and she started crying. She told me that she didn’t want Friday to be graduation, because she didn’t want school to be over. It broke my heart. This year has really been so special. I can’t even accurately convey how amazing it has been for her. I am sad about it, so I can only imagine how she must be feeling. Luckily, Aunt A, Cousins S and E are coming on Saturday, which will totally distract her.

S and I came home. Once again S refused to nap at her normal time. She decided to go down about one hour before we had to pick up O. Obviously, I had to wake her up to get her sister. This went over well, as I am sure you can imagine. Actually, those of you who have never had the pleasure of witnessing one of S’s tantrums cannot imagine. S is a force of nature. She really commits to her tantrums and rails against whatever perceived injustice she is forced to endure. To the uninitiated onlooker, it sounds as though her fingernails are being ripped off her hand, when in reality she just REALLY wanted to have a piece of gum (she’s 2). I think twice about opening my windows for fear of what my neighbors will think. In any case, I had a really relaxing lunch of Sweet Potato Bisque and Greek salad. S provided the entertainment.

Dinner was a quinoa and lentil salad with steamed broccoli. The quinoa and lentil salad was amazing for real. It is one of my favorite dishes so far, and to think just two weeks ago I would have considered it a side dish at best. I had a ridiculous amount of energy after dinner. I got a ton of work done and I couldn’t fall asleep until well after midnight. I normally go to bed at 10:00 p.m., because I am 100 years old. I haven’t had energy like this since…ever. Seriously, I cannot remember a time where I felt this good.

Day 9

Today was a bit hectic, I didn’t prep as well as I should have so that definitely added to my stress. I managed to pull it off without a hitch though- miracle of miracles. O had her pre-k prom and she was super excited about it. Personally, I had never heard of such a thing before. When I was kid, there was much less pomp and circumstance surrounding certain milestones. I am pretty sure there wasn’t even a graduation ceremony. We just finished preschool and went to kindergarten. No big deal. Now, everything is a BIG deal. Dance recitals are HUGE undertakings, pint-sized graduates don caps and gowns, and pre-k students go to prom. Ok, fine. I can roll with it.

Let me back up a bit. I woke up to a delicious shake- vegan chocolate with blueberries, almond butter and distilled water. I didn’t realize how much I would miss my shakes until I didn’t have them everyday. It is so crazy to me, but my body now craves those nutrients.  I dropped O off at school and tried to put S down for a nap. She wasn’t having it. At all. S…this skipping nap thing is not working for me. I need sometime to get my shit done without feeling like I am blatantly ignoring you. Get on board. Lunch was leftover pinto beans and rice with a microgreen salad. It was delicious, again.  Next thing I knew it was time to go pick up O. Shit! I didn’t prep for dinner at all which was a complicated sounding Sweet Potato and Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with asparagus and slivered almonds. You guys? The only reason I even know that bisque is soup is because I worked in the restaurant industry for YEARS, otherwise I would have been totally lost.

Took O for a haircut at one of those kiddie places where the chairs are Barbie Jeeps and crap like that. O has amazing hair (thick and curly) and she should definitely be going to see an actual stylist at this point, because she could really end up butchered. However, Miss O cannot resist the allure of a Barbie Jeep. She cried actual tears when I suggested going elsewhere.  I asked the “stylist” (I am using this term very loosely) to give her a special braid or something for her prom. She didn’t seem to want to (she actually rolled her eyes at my request- lady I am with you. I also think pre-k proms are a little much), but in the end she wound up giving her a pretty kick ass “Elsa” braid for the occasion.

At this point, I had less than two hours to attempt the bisque. I was really stressing because there were a TON of ingredients and all had to be prepped in some way (boiling, roasting, grating and so on). Plus, I had to triple the recipe which may sound like no biggie to you, but to me? I tend to avoid all things math. Because? Math. I have many strong suits, but math isn’t one of them. How many times can I use the word “math” in this paragraph? Math, math, mathy math.  In any event, I pulled it off and it was actually amazing. The credit obviously goes to the recipe itself and not to the chef in this instance. (Math).

I packed up a portion of soup for Friend S (remember her?) who would also be at the pre-k prom, dropped S off with Aunt Do Do (my best friend whose name is obviously not actually Do Do. Accordingly, she doesn’t need to go by an initial) and O and I were ready to roll. The prom was super adorable. The kids had an amazing time with each other and their amazing teachers, whom I will pay tribute to later this week. Finally ate dinner around 8:30 and realized that I was exhausted.  It dawned on me that I hadn’t sat down at all since like 9:00 a.m, and I hadn’t felt tired at ALL until that moment. I also didn’t have ANY coffee or caffeine at all. This reset business is no joke and I am feeling better than I have in YEARS.

Just Another Manic Monday- day 8

Woke up a little later than I would have liked. Normally, this would  have thrown me off for the entire day, but it didn’t really matter all that much today.  Today marked the start of week 2/phase 2. An additional supplement “detox” is added into the mix. This one actually tastes pretty good. D described it as oatmeal lemonade, which sounds gross but isn’t. For breakfast I had vegan chocolate Shakeology with frozen cherries, distilled water and cinnamon. It was AMAZING. I have NEVER been a fan of my shakes with anything other than unsweetened vanilla almond milk. This recipe might be a game changer. I opted to have the shake this morning instead of the fruit platter because week 3 is ALL fruit platters with no option for Shakeology as a replacement so I figured I would switch it up a bit. Also, it cut down on the food prep and grocery bill this week, which is always nice.

O stayed home from school again, poor kiddo. I felt so bad for her as this is her last week of Pre-K and she has had such an amazing year. Seriously, I don’t know how any teacher can top this ever. Luckily, her pediatrician gave her the all clear to return to school tomorrow, just in time for her Pre-K Prom. HAHAHAH can you even believe this is a thing? I cannot wait to see how cute this event turns out to be.

Lunch was microgreens salad with toasted pumpkin seeds and avocado. I love this salad. I am not sure if it is because I eat salads for lunch pretty much every day in my “normal life” and it feels familiar? Did I just insinuate that salad is comfort food? Oh man. What is the world coming to? Dinner was pinto beans and brown rice with steamed zucchini and green beans. When I read this entry in the book I had two thoughts. 1. They forgot to add the main dish to this dinner option. 2. The menu creator just gave up and picked three of the most boring foods ever and slapped them together. Yet again, I was wrong. This meal is definitely one of my favorites to date and I will incorporate it into my normal routine. That way I can see if it was a delicious as it seemed or if I am just carb deprived and a little crazy.

All in all today was a great day. Right up until bedtime when O decided that she wanted me to read her another book ( I had already read her 4). When I said no, she informed me that she would “fly away out of the window” if I didn’t cave to her demands. I explained to her that she couldn’t actually fly, and that she would get really hurt if she attempted to do so. Then she banned me from her room (unless I changed my mind and decided to read to her) forever. Bedtime is really fun at my house. You should try it. For once, O wore herself out and apologized to me on her own! That has never happened before so I was pretty proud of her.  For those that don’t know, O is so much like me as a child that it freaks me out. With that being the case, I sometimes have less patience for her antics that I would with S, probably because I understand her motivation more. I also tend to forget that she isn’t in fact me and she does have her OWN driving forces. She proved that tonight because as a child? I definitely wouldn’t have apologized so soon after the fact. In any case, this is all karmic retribution for my own epic tantrums that I pitched well into my tween years. From there, I was a REALLY bitchy teen. I am so so so screwed.

Weekend wrap up-days 6 and 7

I woke up on the morning of day 6 feeling a little anxious because I knew that I had two pretty big hurdles to clear with regard to sticking to the reset; a baby “sprinkle” and a birthday dinner. This was the first time that I had to figure out how to stick to the plan while being away from home. I was determined to stay on track. More on that later. Breakfast was Baked Tempeh with steamed kale and avocado. I need to be honest here. I didn’t love this one. It was an odd choice for breakfast. It definitely felt more like a dinner and my palate just couldn’t handle this in the morning. I will not repeat this one for breakfast that is for sure.

The sprinkle was at noon in Westchester, about an hour or so away. I wanted to arrive about 30 minutes early so that I could eat my microgreen salad and quinoa salad in the car beforehand. I didn’t anticipate that the traffic on the Cross Island due to the Belmont Stakes would complicate this. Needless to say, I wasn’t early so I had no choice but to haul my bag of contraband food into the restaurant. I worked as a server for close to ten years, so I was acutely aware just how ridiculous it would be for me to bust out my food from home. Luckily, the sprinkle was held in honor of A, one of my best friends from college. With any other group of people, I probably would have felt too uncomfortable to dump my tupperware containers onto restaurant plates. With my college girls, anything goes so that was a non issue, and it made me realize even more how lucky I am to have these lunatics in my life. I am pretty sure that some of A’s other friends think I am a huge weirdo, but they would have figured that out sooner or later regardless.

I was pretty nervous about the drive home. I needed to time it right so that I could take my Alkalinize supplement (green power that is mixed with water) at like 3:30. I checked the GPS and it was still saying that the Cross Island was my best bet. I had doubts, but I forged ahead. Once I crossed the Throgs Neck, I knew listening to that damn machine was a mistake. Traffic was backed up to the bridge and post time for the Belmont Stakes wasn’t even until 6:00 p.m. (It was now like 2:45). I made an illegal exit (normally I am the biggest rule follower ever but everyone else was doing it so I followed suit because I REALLY wanted to get home) and decided to hop on the Clearview Expressway. Fun Fact: I am really, really good at concocting alternate routes. I have a decent sense of direction and I am proud to say that I navigated myself home, away from the high traffic areas of the Belmont, and it didn’t take a ridiculous amount of time. I made my Alkalinize at a red light and I was in business.

Unfortunately, my friend M, the  birthday girl, was feeling sick so the birthday dinner was postponed. In a way this was a relief.  Reset and food wise for sure; however I love hanging with this group of girls so I was pretty bummed. Dinner was zucchini and cashew soup that was so easy to make and so delicious, along with roasted root vegetables. That was probably my favorite meal thus far. The roasted vegetables were amazing and so filling. I was stunned because normally? That dish would have been a side dish at best. Not any longer.

My nephew J’s 6th birthday party was in the morning of day 7. I was totally confident that I could resist any temptations at this point. Breakfast was oatmeal with apple and flax seeds- delicious and filling. Then it was time to party at one of those germ fest bounce places that I love so much. Everyone had a blast. The pizza didn’t tempt me at all. The cake? I have to admit that I definitely wanted a taste, but I am committed to doing this reset clean with no breaks from the program.

Lunch was a giant microgreen salad with zucchini and cashew soup. So good. Then, I had kickball at 3:00. I play with such a fun team. We are definitely the Bad News Bears of the league, but we have a great time. Some of the other teams take it VERY seriously, but let’s face facts. We are women in our 30’s and above playing kickball. By definition, we are ridiculous. Might as well roll with it. Strenuous exercise is not recommended while doing the reset, but kickball doesn’t usually get too intense so I figured I was safe. HAHAHAH of course I was wrong. We were down a few players and the ball was just flying all over the field. I definitely ran a LOT more that I was planning to. I think that is what caused my headache later on in the evening.

Dinner was Baked Tempeh, broccoli and brown rice. The tempeh was so much better for dinner. I actually really liked it. I went to bed pretty early because my head was pounding.  Week 1 stats: down 5 lbs and many inches (didn’t measure because I wasn’t feeling well but I can tell by the way my clothes are fitting and from pictures) Looking forward to week 2- phase 2.