The Ultimate Reset - Day 17...and 16, and umm..15 and....

Ok yeah I haven't blogged in a few days.  I've been super crazy busy but I haven't wavered in my resolve to see this through.  And trust me when I tell you that there were times when nothing would  have tasted better than a glass of wine instead of water, nothing would have felt better than to sit down and eat something someone else prepared, or something I just peeled open and nuked.  Heck just today, in the midst of a monsoon (well Ohio's version of one) everyone in the office decided to order pizza.  From my favorite pizza place.  But I ate my reset lunch.  So there.

Kicking this reset's ass, that's what I'm doing!

So backing up.  Some of what I've eaten the last few days, leaving out stuff I've already shown you..yaknow, fruit for breakfast every day, a few microgreen salads, they're delicious but you've seen all that so I haven't been taking pictures of everything anymore.

Day 14 I repeated day 13's dinner...because it was THAT good.  But I put the sauce on the squash after I cooked it, which was even better.

Acorn squash with garlic tahini filling.  This filling is amazing.  To think I almost didn't buy tahini because it's kind of pricey.  SO glad I did.

Tahini is our friend.  

Day 15 was weigh-in day.  Progress after two full weeks...ten pounds down!  Those are some amazing results for not working out at all and not starving myself.  At the end I'll measure, which should be very interesting.

Day 15's lunch was really good.  Asian cabbage salad & miso soup.

I felt like I should have been using chopsticks.

Dinner, by comparison, was fairly domestic.  Well mostly. Baked sweet potato, garlic veggies and quinoa.

Who knew sweet potato is good without 

a ton of brown sugar and marshmallows? 

Day 16 I made a smoothie....now try to be open-minded here

If you look closely you will see a kiwi.  With the skin on.  Yes, I was a little grossed out at first too but according to this article kiwi skin is not only edible but downright good for you.  This doesn't mean I'm about to just bite into one without peeling it, but mixed in with nectarines and some frozen cherries, it didn't taste fuzzy at all.

Yesterday's dinner, I'm not gonna lie, wasn't my favorite.  Curried cauliflower, lemon pepper kale and brown rice.  I went very easy on the curry because I had never had it before and it left the cauliflower a bit on the bland side.  But I went a little overboard on the lemon juice on the kale.  The rice was, well, it was rice.  Not awful by any means, and I ate it all, but just not the WOW dinner I've become used to.

And that brings us to today.  Whew.  All caught up

Breakfast was cherries, grapes and blueberries.  I really like this breakfast.  Really easy to eat on the run.  I didn't take a picture.

Lunch...I'll be honest I was not at all excited about this lunch. But oh my gosh it was awesome.  Super flavorful.  The combination of spices made the carrots more flavorful and satisfying than I could have ever imagined.  Will DEFINITELY make this again.

Moroccan carrot salad.  

Now one might think I would have learned a lesson with that one...the lesson being that even if a dish doesn't seem especially appealing, I should try it anyway because it might be amazing.

Yes one might think that, but one would be wrong.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be roasted squash, green beans with lemon and toasted millet.  All perfectly respectable dishes and probably quite easy since there are no sauces and very few spices, but I don't have to work tomorrow (ok..I don't have to GO TO THE OFFICE tomorrow) so I don't have to pack my lunch tonight, I have vowed to not work tonight, I had time to cook something a little more involved and felt like a little more flavor than roasted squash.  So I flipped ahead in the book and found THIS!!

Mediterranean Roasted Beets, 

Baked Tempeh, Coconut Collard Greens.

The coconut collard greens are by far my favorite reset recipe, and baked tempeh is probably my second favorite.  And the beets...they're pretty darn good, especially considering that I used to think I HATED beets.  One of the cool things about this program is that you can swap out any meal for the same meal within the same week.  So any dinner in week 3 can be swapped out for any other dinner in week 3.  So if there's something you're allergic to, something you can't find in the store, or something you absolutely, positively can't stomach even trying, you're covered.  

Crap, that reminds me, I still need to go find a goshdarned fennel bulb.

Anyway....

So that's what I've been eating.

I have started exercising a little bit.  First, in hopes of nudging my weight loss numbers a little higher for the third week, but also so it won't be a complete shock to my body when I start lifting weights again next week.  So I've been walking a little and doing a little yoga.  And it feels good to get moving.  Physically, I feel really good.  Light.  Smaller.  My stomach definitely seems smaller and my pants are big.

My skin is still pretty clear, and I'm hoping that trend continues.  Some people have reported rashes and breakouts in weeks 2 and 3 as the body gets rid of the toxins but I haven't experienced that, knock formica.

Mentally is where the big change has taken place in the past few days.  I'm clearer and far more focused.  At work I've been more productive than I've been in months, which is saying something because...not to toot my own horn but...I typically get a buttload done.  But I feel like I'm knocking projects off the list with increased speed and focus.  I'm not easily distracted.

Hey look, a chicken.

Tomorrow is 4th of July and I shall neither host nor attend a cookout.  I'm going to a baseball game in the evening with my guy and his kids and I will have neither peanuts nor crackerjack.  I will take water with me.  I will behave.

I see a light at the end of the tunnel.  It's the orange glow of a charcoal grill.  And there is a steak on it.  A small one.  Organic, grass fed beef.  With a side salad topped with homemade creamy garlic dressing.

And there is a glass of wine.