A foodie love affair

30 Day Shred - Day 29

I can't believe I've made it to Day 29...just one day left on Emily Skye's 30 Day Shred.

This week is a great week to end the shred, but the closer Day 30 gets, the harder it is to keep to the meal plans. Knowing this week was my last week, a few celebrations have been put into the calendar like a big Melbourne trip this weekend to see the Foo Fighters.

One thing I didn't plan on coinciding with the end of the shred was the ballet. For Christmas, Dave got us two tickets to see the Australian Ballet perform Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake at Capitol Theatre in Chinatown.

But first we had to have dinner in Chinatown. I've been so good these past four weeks so one little cheat dinner shouldn't hurt right? Dave wanted laksa from one of the best laksa houses in Sydney - Happy Chef. It looks like any other food court stand, but it's quite known...everyone at my work swears it's the best laksa they've had in Sydney. I don't like laksa because it's too oily with tough noodles. I opted for soft and spicy char kway teow Malaysian noodles. I couldn't finish it all, but it was delicious to eat stir fried seafood and noodles.

Day 29 cheat dinner - Malaysian char kway teow

Waiting for the curtains to open for Swan Lake

I haven't seen the ballet in Australia. The last time I saw the ballet was in NYC when I went to uni there back in 2004-2008. Dave had never seen the ballet, so this was a first for us...at least in Australia. The show was absolutely beautiful. There are a few renditions of the classic story, but this one was created in the 90s and surprisingly based around the love triangle between Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Camilla Bowles. In some shows, the swan dies, the swan lives, the prince dies, the prince lives. This one was quite sad because they both died. It was a moving story and especially sad when she was in a insane asylum helpless and alone while her prince and the evil baroness are living the life she should have had. Then it was empowering when she showed up at the baroness' party while a new lease on life and confidence where the prince couldn't take his eyes away from her. In Dave's words, "The real moral to the story is that you shouldn't have two women at once." The romantic in me believes that you should be pure of heart and be committed to who you love...so don't cheat!

I've cheated on this shred, but I knew I would never follow it the letter. It has taught me a lot about discipline and new ways to eat while keeping satisfied. Tonight it wasn't about being on the shred. Dave and I enjoyed a fun date night with a satisfying Chinatown meal, beautiful ballet and love story.

Git 'er dun!

30 Day Shred - Day 28

Bring on Monday! I have 3 days left on the 30 Day Shred so to make sure I end on a bang, I approached the day with gusto and determination to knock things out.

I made my daily list of things to do and was able to scratch away at my list during the day. With every pen stroke, my mind relaxed and I felt more at ease with work. I even went to the gym and knocked out a shred work out. I'm a day behind, but I know I'll get it all done somehow if not by the 30th day, but definitely by the end of the week.

I was on a high after work. Although tired and a bit sore from shred workouts and my soccer game yesterday, I managed to play a decent game and score off a corner kick! I had a big day, but I knew what I had to do today and that was to git er' dun!

I came home to a very nice surprise. A candle lit dinner awaited my arrival. I was a sweaty mess from indoor soccer and decided to take a shower first. I also wanted to do a quick shred workout. But it didn't go to plan. I reached for my cell phone and couldn't find it. It wasn't in my gym bag or purse. I started panicking. As I did the first set of my upper arms workout, Dave went downstairs to the garage to look for my phone. I continued to panic. I even tried to call some girlfriends who were still playing indoor via Facebook - does it really work?

When he came back saying it wasn't there, I knew I had to rush to the indoor centre before it closed. I parked and ran to the centre...completely puffed. As soon as I walked in, I spotted my floral phone cover and sighed a breath of relief.

I headed home and plopped down on at the dinner table ravenous for food. Screw the workout...I'll do it tomorrow morning.

I kissed Dave thank you and all was forgiven. He had made up for all the frustration and anger I had with him yesterday.

Candle lit healthy dinner

6 year anniversary gift is up!

After dinner, we watched the Oscars. I looked at the blank wall with 3 hooks and was eager to get the frame up. The night before, we had spent an hour measuring and perfecting the position of the 3M hooks for the frame to hang properly. It may not look like it, but the frame was only $19 from Kmart! I had been quoted over $300 to frame my anniversary print and I knew I couldn't live with myself. This was just as slick and now we can admire it overtime we walk into our apartment.

Being real

30 Day Shred - Day 27

After a big few days where I left my meal plans slip a little, it was time to get back on track.

I started my day with my usual four egg white plus one whole egg omelet with spinach and cottage cheese. Today was game day. My soccer match was scheduled for 12pm. I woke up at 8:45am and made my breakfast right away. I knew if I ate any later, it would be harder and harder to digest. Today wasn't an issue. Because I wasn't eating carbs or anything acidic, I was fine when I started running.

The usual 30 Day Shred breakfast

4 egg whites + 1 whole egg + spinach + cottage cheese

It was a scorching hot day. Although cloudy, I definitely got a bit of a burn on my face. Thank goodness our opposition wanted to play 20 minute quarters instead of 40 minute halves.

I usually go to yoga at 3pm every Sunday, but after playing in the heat, all I wanted to do was jump into the ocean.

I made a carrot, apple, cucumber and mint juice and headed to the beach.

The water was a bit cold. A shot of the shivers went through my body when I entered the water, but after a few splashes, I wasn't cold anymore. It gave my sore, tired and burned body the relief it needed. I ended up laying out for three hours mixing in some girl talk time on the beach towel with some beach volleyball bumps with Dave and his friends.

I had an excellent Sunday with a touch of soccer and beach time. All I wanted to do was relax at home now. But I couldn't. I had left Dave to play soccer and he promised to clean and pick up the groceries while I was gone. He had not cleaned the house at all. When I got home from soccer he was at the store, which made me think he was there knowing I was coming home and would be furious to see the house wasn't cleaned. Normally I would brush off cleaning duties for another weekend, but next weekend we were having guests stay over. This was unacceptable. I had spent much of my Saturday picking up items for our house and cleaning. Every weekend I pick up the groceries and plan out our weekly meals. I was furious now.

I begrudgingly made dinner. I didn't care what he wanted to eat. I didn't care if he came home. I was so angry. When he did come home, he knew my frustration and anger was at boiling point. He started cleaning immediately as if to avoid the scolding a mother would give. When we finally sat down, he apologised. It was good of him to apologise, but I had to get my frustrations out.

"I always cook. I always do the shopping. I left today feeling good about the pact we'd made that you'd clean. I spent my free day yesterday picking up stuff for the apartment. You had your free day yesterday at your volleyball tournament. I'm not your mother."

"That's why now I'm apologising. I'm going to spend the rest of the night cleaning."

Again I felt like I was being treated like a mother.

We sat in silence while we ate. I nearly chewed the inside of my cheek I was so angry.

I let it go. He cleaned as he promised he would and I relaxed as I had planned to. It didn't make me feel good that he was cleaning while I wasn't, but it was his turn. 

My favourite 30 Day Shred Salad

Sweet potato, broccoli, beans, spinach, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.

Gluten free / paleo / vegan almond cookies

To work out my frustrations, I baked. I found an amazing recipe online by googling "gluten free paleo cookies"...even better they were vegan! Thank you @TexanErin for such an easy and healthy recipe that satisfies my sweet tooth. It only takes 15 minutes including bake time!

Today was a real test to my dedication to the 30 Day Shred and my relationship. I have to be real with myself. If I want something to happen, I have to stick to my challenge or speak up when I see something is wrong. I've forgiven Dave, but he knows he's definitely in the dog house. I'm only days away from the 30 Day mark. After the 30 Day Shred, I know I have to forgive those cheat days, but I have to be realistic and understand sometimes I'll slip. Sometimes our close family and friends slip. And it's okay.