Attempting a Whole Life

Day 29 Woke up with a headache, runny nose, and twinging from my spondy flare-up. But I still feel better than I did yesterday after my physical therapy appointment. I think I did push my self too hard instead of listening to my body. I've been dealing with these flare-ups for a decade and I know if I don't listen to my body, I will end up with emergency room type pain. I think I was putting too much faith in "trusting the process" and not enough in trusting my process. I get where they were coming from. I think when I said I lay down, they assumed I lay down all day. I don't. I lay down until the pain subsides, still fully awake and able to work on my computer or from my tablet. But I also make sure to get up and walk around when I can. My laying down is probably the equivalent to people sitting down. I still fully intend to continue my physical therapy and am very aware I need to work on my core and making sure I add stretching to my daily routine. ...

Day 28 I woke up feeling about 80% from the spondylolitheses stuff not including a headache, slightly sore throat, and runny nose. The headache went away about 3 hours after taking meds for it. Today, since I was consistently feeling a bit better, I went to my physical therapy appointment. They had me doing some extra stretches to help loosen everything up, which felt nice. Then, they moved on to checking my mobility, pushing until I felt something. Not fun. They moved onto my regular exercises and as they progressively got harder, the twinge returned. I cried. I don't think it was tears from the pain. I felt absolutely defeated. And although the pain and lack of mobility are not as bad as the first or even second day, my excitement that it was slowly getting better completely waned after this appointment. I do have another appointment later this week that I still plan on going to. Gotta trust the process... for now. Meal Schedule Brunch Coffee - Black + cinnamon...

Day 27 I woke up feeling about 80% on the back pain scale which is wonderful in my book. Unfortunately, the back pain was replaced by a migraine which woke me up and kept me up since fairly early in the morning (way before the sun). Meal Schedule Breakfast Coffee - Black + cinnamon + almond milk Egg Sausage Lunch Almond Butter Beef Stick Dinner Orange *From the garden **Leftovers I didn't have much of an appetite today. Mostly, I think I am getting sick. I had a very slight sore throat combined with a headache that didn't go away. Groceries Avocado Oil Mayo Meat Bars Almond Butter Packets Pine Nuts I forgot to use the coupon that would have given me 40% those pine nuts and I am kicking myself for not remembering which brought it to $37.87. But I am expecting a $5.75 rebate using the Ibotta app (referral link) on the nut butter and jars of mayo. < Day 26   | Day 28 > Follow Attempting a Whole Life

Day 26  Day 4 of Spondylolisthesis flare-up and I woke up feeling slightly better (not as many twinges as I got out of bed). This flare-up has got me going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. I've been about to go outside and do a TINY bit of yard work; bending to pick things up. After about an hour of slow movement everything tightens up and laying flat helps it relax.  Meal Schedule Breakfast Coffee - Black + cinnamon + almond milk Eggs Bacon** Sausage** Potato Banana Lunch Ground Beef Onion Bell Peppers Green Chile Sauce Garlic Powder Dinner Chicken Salad Snack Meat Stick Energy Bar *From the garden **Leftovers The kid and I split the leftovers of the bacon and sausage and enjoyed the last of the potatoes. I'm still debating if I want to grab more or if I'm going to try Keto after my reintroduction phase of this reset. < Day 25   | Day 27 > Follow Attempting a Whole Life

This has been my go to potluck/party food since I first tried my luck at Whole30 in 2017. It's fairly easy to make and only two ingredients. The best part is your Whole30-nonbeliever friends will likely enjoy this, too! Actually, the best part is eating it. Let's get to it! Ingredients Dates Bacon Supplies Knife Shallow baking sheet Parchment baking paper (easier cleanup) Directions Preheat the oven to 425F. Cut lengthwise, remove pits, set aside. Cut bacon in half. Put one end of bacon in the slit of the date and wrap around tightly.  Place wrapped dates with bacon end face-down, spreading out each date evenly on baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or longer until bacon reaches desired crispness. Tip : If your bacon is too short and doesn't reach around the date or unravels, hold together with toothpick presoaked in water.

Day 25  It may be day 25 of my Whole30 2.0 but it's day 3 of my Spondylolisthesis flare-up. And I am still frustrated with my lack of normal-to-me mobility. I still haven't made it up to my daily 10,000 step goal but I have worked my way towards keeping up with my volunteer commitment that I made for today. And man, was I tired afterwards! These last few days had my body doing constant ab exercises. It's not until I am able to lay down that my core can finally try and relax. Meal Schedule Breakfast Coffee - Black + cinnamon + Almond milk Eggs Bacon Potato Lunch Beef Stick Orange Banana Dinner Chicken Salad *From the garden **Leftovers < Day 24   |  Day 26  > Follow Attempting a Whole Life

Day 24 Meal Schedule Breakfast Coffee - Black + cinnamon Eggs Bacon Potato Lunch Dinner *From the garden **Leftovers I used the last of my need-to-brew coffee yesterday and was left with my in-case-of-emergency, instant coffee, single-cup packets. This actually worked out fine because I didn't feel the need to drink more than a cup as I tried to keep rested, mainly. < Day 23   |  Day 25 > Follow Attempting a Whole Life