I think the success of any diet depends on how well you can adapt it to different situations: dining out, parties, traveling, etc. This weekend was a huge test of that. And, well, I made a choice to go a little off plan, in the name of hanging out with some of the best friends a gal can have. So technically, I’m starting over on my Whole30, but I’m not bumming. I never really looked at this as something I was only going to do for 30 days, but rather a way of eating *most* of the time. Back in the day, before Biff and I got married, we had a lot of success doing a certain “life-style change” that let’s just say rhymes with Beight Batchers. We would track our points diligently, but every other Sunday, we’d go out to eat and indulge a little for just that one meal. We both have discussed approaching our new eating habits the same way.

Friday, I met up with some of my favorite friends from childhood. I chose a steak with asparagus for my dinner, which was probably pretty close to compliant (I didn’t ask about the cooking oil for the steak, that’s probably the only thing that might have been on the banned list) but as we were getting into some juicy gossip, I had a gluten-free cider. Or two. Then Saturday, one of our bestie couple friends came over to see our new house.  Let’s just say, we had some snacks. And then Sunday, my mom came over and we had brunch out. Though aside from cheese, that meal was pretty compliant. Oh and a cider. Or two. D’oh!

So here we are! You know, it’s kind of nice having the knowledge to make the decision to indulge. And it’s especially nice to understand that a few “off” meals doesn’t mean I have to totally throw in the towel completely. It’s so much more meaningful to enjoy good food with good people on a special occasion. I think that’s called maturity? I can’t be sure.

No noodles, no problem

I did make some yummy compliant dishes in that time too, though! One of my easiest go-to meals is a meat marinara sauce with zoodles. I don’t really have a recipe I follow, I just cook up some ground beef with garlic and onions, add some canned tomatoes and tomato paste, and then toss in some pre-spiralized zucchini noodles toward the end. Tonight I followed just the portion of this recipe which pertains to making brisket in the Instant Pot. It came out really good! Just beware of the ingredients in the beef stock, it can be really hard to find one that doesn’t include sugar. I roasted some asparagus and added some pre-riced veggies and then poured some of the leftover liquid from the Instant Pot over everything. Boom!

Brisket in the Instant Pot. Say what?!

I was feeling kind of crummy today, I think it may have been a mini-detox from the weekend festivities. So I skipped my workout but I’ll go tomorrow instead to make up for it. Unless the workout is 1000 burpees. Then I will not go. Later this week, I have a physical with my new doctor. I’m hoping she’s blown away by my low blood pressure and shiny, silky hair. We’ll see!