Whole30: COMPLETE!

So about 30 days ago, Jake and I launched ourselves into a lifestyle change. I was fed up feeling shitty after eating and over eating and he wanted a new challenge. So we started eating Paleo. 

This past Wednesday, we completed our first 30 days of the challenge! To sum up the experience, I have really enjoyed not only the challenge of the first 30 days but I really like the results!

As a "special treat" in celebration of our first 30 days, Jake and I decided to embark on a food journey through all our old favorite foods. It mainly started because for the past week I've been craving cheese pizza. Every night, we would tell each other what we've been craving lately. So yesterday, we decided to eat whatever we wanted, in secret hopes that it'd make us feel shitty and we won't want them again.

Let me tell you, it totally worked. For lunch, we went to BarHop and had fried pickles and french fries to start. Then I ordered one of my favorites, a Reuben sandwich, with a Cesar salad on the side (I didn't think I was going to be able to do that many fries...). It was all very, very delicious but this was how much of my lunch I was able to eat:

 

Yup, that's it! I managed half of and half of a sandwich and a few big pieces of lettuce. It was so good but almost instantly, I started to feel too full and really, really gross. it didn't help that before lunch Jake wanted to get donuts (Canada, if you didn't know, is pretty famous for Tim Horton's. It's like the Canadian Dunkin Donuts but way, way better. The donuts are absolutely to die for and we wanted one...or two...).

 

After getting our lunches wrapped up to take home, we stopped by Shoppers (Canadian version of Rite Aid) to get some Tums...and Easter Candy (we thought, hey go big or go home). We stumbled home and crashed on the couch, both to take a food-induced nap to help settle our tummy's.

 

The nap didn't help.

 

About 3 hours later, I felt like someone had inserted a beach ball into my body and was slowly blowing it up. Last night I couldn't help thinking, "I can't wait till I get to eat carrots and hard boiled eggs tomorrow."

 

All in all, I'm glad we felt like shit last night. It made me shudder at the leftover box I saw in the fridge this morning as I reached for my orange and hard boiled eggs for breakfast.

 

I don't think I've lost a ton of weight over the past month. I started working out more (about 6 days a week) and am feeling better. I sleep great and I never, ever get that too full, gross feeling after I eat. I'm excited to continue with paleo this next month and work out more. I think after the next 30 days, we'll allow ourselves another cheat day. I'm looking forward to some wings in 30 days!

 

Jake with his tiny beer!

I felt miserable in thsi picture...

 

My first real beer in a long while...so good!

Fried pickles and french fries.




 

 

 

Soup for the Soul.

Some days, you just need a soul lifter. To do something that makes your soul smile and warm up. Lately, I've been feeling like I've put my soul on the middle freezer shelf, where it's been sitting for a few days, cooling and slowing reaching closer to freezing.

Okay, that sounds a bit drastic but you get the picture. 

Lately, I've been feeling this overwhelming sense of being stuck. I'm in limbo, almost through it. I've been working 4 doubles a week for almost 2 months now, and while that doesn't sound like a long time, boy I can tell you it is. 

This morning, I got to review a new bacon shop. It's a sandwich shop dedicated to bacon and I have been pretty excited about this. But it wasn't the free coffee and bacon that made me feel good. 

Not what I'm drinking today,
but I got my first Peppermint Mocha
over the weekend. Heaven.
Let the holiday's begin! 

Instead of getting up at 5:30, I slept till 7. Instead of rushing at the gym and having to chose between running only or running a little less and squeezing in some leg and arm work, I got to do it all (and the sun was up, whaaa?!) Instead of rushing my breakfast I took my time, and made a grocery list, too! I took a long shower and had time to do my hair. I got to watch the morning news, which I enjoy, and did some light reading. By the time I was leaving the house, I felt more like a person and not a drone.  

Now I'm sitting in a coffee shop, writing this, eating my free bacon sandwich and contemplating what life will be like when I don't have to get up early anymore. I think today was good for my soul.

It's funny how something so simple can make you feel so much better. 

What things make you feel better when you're feeling over worked, upset or just plain tired?

Illegal Aliens.

I will give you this, Canada. You seem to be one friendly place.

Not as in, everyday life is overly friendly. I do encounter a few rude people now and again, like anywhere else in the world. It's the overall feel of the country that I've noticed.

Source.

Canada seems to pride itself on accepting others. Not in a 'citizens of the world' aspect, but in a you want to live here, then live here, kind of way. The United States, on the other hand, I believe to be a very selfish country. Below are my top three observations on this: 

1. Canadians seem to be okay with the fact that other people want to live here, and they show it: The subway cars are lined with signs advertising immigration lawyers, immigration hot lines and immigration support. There's a sign I always seem to look at that tells you all the reasons why you belong in Canada.

Would you see advertisements like these in the United States? I don't think so. I don't know why, either. Shouldn't we brag about the fact that so many people want to leave their countries to come be with us? If I had to choose between moving to Canada or the United States and I wasn't already from the United States, I probably would choose Canada. Yeah, taxes are high and it's bloody expensive but damn it could be worth it.

Source.

2. People are okay with diversity: I have never lived somewhere where my friend group consists of so many different races and languages. The best part? All of these people are from other places and recently moved here too. 

I am going to be totally honest right now and say that I was a little shocked at first seeing so many Middle Eastern, Asian, Africa, South American, etc people. There have been times when being white has been the minority. I am not racist or anything but growing up in an environment where "the token black kid" was a normal thing (because there wasn't much diversity even though we were open to it) and winding up in a location where roles are reversed was a bit shocking at first.

I'm used to it now and I really love it. It makes conversations a little more then 2 sided. With all the different opinions, backgrounds, languages and beliefs, it makes for some interesting dialogue.

3. The different languages are so prominent: Through the course of my lifetime, I've heard many people say many times "If you live here, learn English!" Yes, most schools require some time spent studying another language but it's mostly, well almost, never practiced outside of those classes and certainly almost never required anywhere else. Comparatively, Americans know nothing about other languages.

During my (so far) short stay here in Canada, oh the languages I've heard! I've heard more languages on a morning subway ride then I think I heard living in Oregon. So many interesting ones too! And I have never heard or seen or read anything derogatory towards those who speak multiple languages. I love the idea of a French immersion school, too. Mainly because I think kids that learn a second (or third or forth) language are so ahead of their game.

The world I'm used to isn't like this. We want uniformity and everyone to be like us. But we don't see the beauty behind the different.