Low Carbing Part Deux

I am now officially two weeks into successful low carbing. I can't freakin' believe I haven't eaten any sort of grain product in two weeks. I weighed myself this morning and was down another 4.4 lbs. So crazy!! The hardest part of this continues to be avoiding beer. I went to the Harpoon Beer Hall on Sunday and the beer smell was totally taunting me. This wasn't part of my original plan, but I'm trying not to drink until I go to Miami on the 10th. That first cocktail (hopefully a pina colada on the beach!!!!!!!) is going to be SO delicious. Despite many, many tempting moments I haven't had one sip of alcohol since Sunday the 15th.

I had some fun with cooking this week. Here's what I've been eating:

Good lookin' Whole Foods sausage

I mentioned last week that I had the most trouble with breakfast, so I prepped for it this week. First I made a fritatta with lots of veggies (mushroom, onion, spinach and kale) and mozzarella cheese. 30 seconds in the microwave and this was the perfect breakfast at work.

Veggies cooking

Add the eggs

All cooked up...just a little burnt on the bottom

I wanted something different than eggs, so I made this paleo granola from scratch! I even chopped the nuts and seeds up myself because my blender is broken. This granola doesn't have any grains in it and was made with cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, coconut, honey, egg white and vanilla extract.

Mixin' it up

All baked up

The best part: crumbling it up

Recipe made almost a full gallon!

I actually ate this for dinner. It was SO delicious.

Pork and turkey meatballs and homemade sauce

Breakfast on the go

My coworkers think I'm very weird with these lunch boxes

A little brown avocado does no harm

I felt like a French woman eating this breakfast

I eat in a methodical way -- these were my last bites (I saved the raspberry for last!)

Forgot my lunch at home

Drinking lots of seltzer these days...

Spicy Italian chicken sausage

Cheesy meatballs and mushrooms

The hardest part of this week was all of the eating out and going out. I went out to dinner in the North End and had a tough time ignoring all of the bread, pasta, and fried appetizers. And wine. I was able to stick it out and ordered chicken saltimbocca gluten free style -- the chicken is sauteed without breading, wrapped in prosciutto and topped with mozzarella cheese. I asked for no pasta and got grilled veggies instead. It was delicious!!!!

Another brunch out -- the eggs and chorizo were served with tortillas and breakfast potatoes. I asked for any veggie instead of potatoes and they said they couldn't do anything (??), so I asked for salsa instead. Somehow the tortillas still ended up on my plate but I didn't eat them.

One great thing about this way of eating is that I'm so over prepared, I'm barely thinking about food. Plus, I have more energy and don't want to be just sitting out the couch watching TV and wishing I was eating pretzels. This has opened up a lot of time for fun things! Here's just a couple of things I've done in the past two weeks:

- Visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for the first time:

- Hung out at the old Northeastern stomping grounds, visited my favorite bar Conor's, grabbed a drink (or a water) at Woody's, and drank tea at the cozy Pavement coffeehouse.

- Seeing one of my favorite high school bands at House of Blues. Taking Back Sunday brings back so many memories of my angsty teenage relationships.

- Went to an Improv comedy show in the North End, followed by dinner at Panza and drinks (more water) at Ward 8.

- Subbed in a corn hole league with a guy on my volleyball team. We went 3-1! 

- Soberly sang along to a live country band at Loretta's in Fenway.

- Played another 3 volleyball games -- my skills are improving!

- I did have time to read City of Thieves and watch The Jinx. I would HIGHLY recommend both of these to everyone!

More fun is coming up in the next few weeks! And maybe, just maybe, it will finally stop snowing and the sun will peek out!!