21 day fix. day 19. cheese.

you guys. i did it. for the first time this week i got up at 5:30 and got in my workout. i'd like to thank my entire family, including the dog, for sleeping through the night so i could sleep.

i like to do burpees in my living room.

i totally love starting out my day with a good sweatfest. post-workout, i feel like i miraculously, in 30 minutes, lost the 20 pounds and got those flat abs as i lay in a pile of my own sweat on the living room floor. it's a miraculous thing.

6:15. i started making breakfast, and heard zeke sneak down the stairs. why he was physically sneaking and yelling at the same time is beyond me, but he yelled "mom? is that you?" i answered in the affirmative but thought to myself "who did you think it was, lil' buddy? a burglar in the kitchen at 6:30 banging around some pots 'n pans and cookin' up some eggs?". children are so funny.

co-mingled eggs with spinach and onion.
oatmeal with leftover stewed apples from last night.

10:00. delicious smoothie time. 1/2 banana, frozen blueberries, protein powder, ground flax, ice and almond milk.

11:00. i had to make a target run at work. i did not pack any food for myself today other than the smoothie because our kitchen was looking a little "old mother hubbard" this morning. so i figured i'd face down the minneapolis skyway demon and make some healthy and portion-appropriate choices for myself. i knew that i needed peanut butter and greek yogurt and celery for an afternoon snack, so i stocked up at target.

then on the way back, i stopped at macy's for lunch. no, i did not eat denim and credit cards for lunch. the downtown macy's has a basement section with tons of cafeteria made-to-order foods. i hit up the salad bar and made my own salad, keeping the ingredients to things i would've had at home:

spring mix. red onion. tomatoes. grilled chicken.
fresh mozzarella (*remember this for later*) and balsamic vinegar.

guys, this is the first significant amount of cheese i've had in almost 3 weeks. cheese is allowed on the fix, i've just typically chosen avocado or guacamole or hummus instead of cheese. and you know what? within 30 minutes of eating this salad, i was totally sick. crampy. bloated. funky tummy issues. yup.

and then i realized, this is how i used to feel all the time. i haven't felt this sick in almost 3 weeks. so i think i'm allergic to or intolerant of cheese. which makes me really sad.  my dying meal is supposed to be a baguette, a block of the stinkiest cheese available and a sturdy, red wine. i will need to rethink this now.

3:00. snack time. still struggling with some funky tummy issues, but i decided to have a snack anyway.

yum.

6:00. to wrap up the day, the badger and i decided to go out for "dinner". neither of us were too hungry and it's still old mother hubbard around here, so we went to the mill and had appetizers and drinks. i had a dirty, dry martini with extra olives (my first cocktail in 3 weeks) and a salad with blueberries and hazlenuts. it was amazing. the badger had scotch eggs and french fries. atta boy.

we have a kid-free weekend starting, um, 3 hours ago. so i'm signing off to get in my pj's, watch a movie, and sleep for the aforementioned 18 hours. not sure what kind of a blog post i will have tomorrow, seeing as we'll be at the miracle circus until late in the evening.

sincerely,
ashley "i love(d) cheese" rebekah