Hi everyone! How is your week going on this lovely humpday? I’m so excited for this weekend I can barely stand it, but I digress let’s talk about last week. Last week I decided to “take a week off of stress,” I basically had a little stay-cation simple by giving myself a break physically and emotionally. It started because I wanted to take a week off of any type of workouts to see if the rest would help my soreness in my SI joint/hip flexors. My wonderful husband agreed to take a week off with me because he knows that if he starts to work out I will too, it’s contagious didn’t you know? I thought it would help because the past two weekend before this I started Monday feeling totally fine, then the soreness would get progressively worse throughout the week. My doctor said I needed a good Sports massage and then I have two options: I can either hit the ground running with strength training and see how I tolerate it or totally back off and let it finally heal. I chose to see if the rest would take care of things once and for all, frankly I’m tired of being injured. So I gave myself a week off, but in addition I vowed to not stress about it. No jumping on the scale, no skipping dessert, no worrying about my fitness level, instead I just let it all be. For the most part I eat really healthy with a few treats here and there anyway so there isn’t a need to be on high alert. Maintaining weight should never be hard if we are listening to what our bodies need. I think the number on the scale can do some crazy things to our emotions. Sometimes it can be very motivating and a good thing, but at some point we need to move beyond a number to the simplicity of a healthy lifestyle. Last week healthy for me was rest, so that was the focus.
*Disclaimer: I do not take a picture of EVERYTHING I eat, just like everyone I snack or take a bite of things here and there and sometimes don’t take a picture. I try to do a decent job at just creating an overall picture of what I eat on a daily basis. What works for me may or may not work for you, as always listen to your body and eat in a way that makes you feel your healthiest and best!
Monday
Monday began with an Einsteins honey whole wheat bagel, leftover from Easter. For lunch I had a salad with deli chicken, goat cheese, craisins, and a side of baby carrots. Around 4pm, right before I left work I had a muscle milk because my tummy was rumbling and I knew we weren’t going out for dinner till 7pm. Going out for dinner to BJ’s Brewery for Mama Shallal’s B-Day was a great kick off to my stress free stay cation week. I got a yummy diet root beer, an appetizer salad, and my favorite buffalo chicken pizza (I deliberately chose the pizza just so that I could have leftovers for lunch.) By the way, the new salted caramel pizookie is literally the best dessert I’ve ever had!
Does going out to dinner ever stress you out? It used to stress me out too but now I’ve learned to not deprive myself, but still make smart healthy choices and there is no problem. This night I got an appetizer salad to help fill me up without overeating, two slices of pizza and I was good with plenty of leftovers!
Tuesday
Tuesday morning began with my beloved green chile and cheese frozen breakfast burrito, I swear I never get tired of them I look forward to them every week! Leftovers were a no brainer, carrots and leftover pizza. For dinner I wasn’t that hungry after my massage (stay-cation) and I was feeling lazy, so even though I don’t usually eat red meat I heated up some easter leftovers of ham, scalloped potatoes with green beans for dinner. After all, it was stay cation = no food rules. Dessert was some cinnamon almonds and a lemon macaroon!
Are there any food rules you every get tired of? Do you ever break them? I always try out different types of foods, even it is just a bite because that’s my thing. I also always give into my cravings, I feel if I’m craving something than there must be a reason. Now, sometimes I outsmart my cravings with healthier but satisfying options, but I always give in! (e.g. craving chocolate, I have a piece of dark chocolate)
Wednesday
Wednesday we had training way across town that started at 830, so instead of trying to fight traffic I just headed there early and sat at Starbucks on my computer. I had a nonfat triple decaf caramel macchiato and spinach feta wrap. We also got yogurt parfaits leftover from a potluck they were having where the training was, #breakfast#2. For lunch one of the girls and I tried out a new place called Bowl of Greens on the ASU downtown campus. I got a build your own salad with chicken and a side of roasted vegetables.
Wednesday night we had Paul’s parents over for dinner while they helped out with some of the house stuff. I made a chicken chorizo enchilada skillet (subbed 3 chopped zucchini for butternut squash) and we killed a half a bottle of wine. Over dinner I was talking with my mother in law about my stay-cation week or as we were calling it the “stress free week.” She asked how that was going for me and I realized it was going okay but not as good as I hoped. Sometimes I found myself stressing about how I wasn’t supposed to be stressed. Crazy huh? She made some sound suggestions like more time in prayer and meditation and to stop overthinking it. Stress is never easy to let go of making relaxing a difficult task at times, but sometimes thats because we are over analyzing the WORST CASE scenario. When really we need to have faith that things will turn out for the best.
Thursday
Thursday we also had training so I went early again but this time to Einsteins. I grabbed a Southwest Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin. For lunch I brought a pb & banana sandwich, carrots, and a muscle milk. The bread was kind of dry so I took half off and folded over the half with pb and banana to make a 1/2 sandwich. German chocolate cupcakes from someone’s retirement party, no idea who they were but I wish them the best! I also had a couple of handfuls of jelly beans, can’t go through one April without them! For dinner I met some friends at the Living Room wine bar and lounge. Usually I have a one drink minimum policy for week nights but since it was stay-cation week I had two rounds of skinny margaritas and they were DELICIOUS! The ahi tuna salad was delicious as well!
Friday
Friday was chaotic end to my stress free week, it seems like Fridays are always crazy. I made a green smoothie (1T pb, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 3 dates, ice, spinach, almond milk) which somehow lasted two hours before I could finally drink it. I forgot a straw too so I ended up using a spoon and slurping it. I brought the chicken chorizo enchilada skillet leftovers but I was afraid to eat them. On Wednesday they sat out for a questionable amount of time because we forgot to put them away, then in the morning they sat in my lunch box while I ran all over for 2 hours. Needless to say I did not eat them, I tried a new place for lunch called Fired Pie instead of getting food poisoning. It was such a cool concept, it was set up like chipotle but instead it was build your own salad or pizza. I loaded up a salad with a million types of pizza toppings including buffalo chicken and it was amazing! After work Friday, I did an hour of yoga and then Paul and I ran a million errands. We didn’t end up eating until close to 9pm, we picked up food from his new favorite sub shop. By that point I wasn’t even really hungry anymore so I let him have half of my baja chicken wrap and I had some leftover green beans. I also ate some popcorn while we caught up on parks and rec!
Stress Free Week Thoughts
I was definitely upset that my lower back/SI injury seemed to get worse throughout the week. I think keeping it rested actually stiffened it up, so by Saturday I hopped in the pool for my first swim in a VERY long time. It went okay and now that I’m back to activity I’m feeling a lot better, which was the total opposite of what I thought would happen. The fact is that a “routine” can help control stress way more than I realized, eating out a lot and putting a lot of attention on “not stressing” may have backfired in my attempts to be stress free. Eating out can be a treat and a time saver, but it’s expensive. Plus, I’m really comfortable making my own meals, I love eating what I buy for us, thats why I buy it! I had a lot of fun on my stay-cation week indulging in a few extra treats and spending extra time with family and friends. However, like any end to a vacation by the end of last week I was craving some mobility and the simplicity of homemade meals.
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