Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

This June had a theme: escape. I've mentioned before that I've been going through a lot lately and, once June rolled around, I just needed to get away. 

I was supposed to run a marathon this weekend. After the GW Parkway Classic, I decided to drop down to the half.  Then, I ran a total of 2 miles this month, on a Tuesday at the beginning of May,  and I haven't worked out since. Needless to say, I didn't make my way to Ottawa this weekend to toe the line of any distance race.

This month has been unspeakably hard.

I'm sorry for being cryptic but I'm not quite ready to post about why. For most of this month, I haven't left my house, except to walk Peyton. This weekend, The Pilot was finally able to get me out of the house. We had a relatively low key weekend but it was good to finally get out of the house.

On Friday, we went to Ikea. We didn't need anything specific but it was fun to just wander around and I finally got this mirror that I've been eyeing for years. Since we moved into our new place in December, I've really wanted to repaint our bedroom but don't want to deal with the hassle of having to repaint it when we move out (it's a hideous shade of pale yellow) but somehow, this mirror just helps brighten up the space.

Saturday morning, I started a DIY project that I've had planned for awhile. One day in February, I went out for a run and found this old secretary's desk on the sidewalk. I've always loved these old desks so I ran home as fast as I could and went back for it. It might not look like it but it needed a lot of work which I started this weekend. The Pilot was pretty skeptical of this little DIY project but I love the way it's turning out! I'll share pictures soon!


Saturday afternoon, we made our way up to Baltimore for dinner with our friends, Ally and Ted. We went out for pizza and then spend the evening enjoying a bottle of wine on their roof deck before making our way back home.

On Sunday, slept in and lounged in bed reading before I got up to make us some waffles. We haven't used our waffle iron in ages but I made one of my favorite waffle recipes (which I'll share soon!) and then I had to work for a few hours. When I finished, we made a trip to Lowe's to pick up a few things for our DIY project and then I spent the night in bed reading. I finally finished "The Wrath and the Dawn," the book chosen for the Beyond Words Book Club. It's one of only two books I've read this month but the other book is, coincidentally, the book we chose for our June pick, "The Handmaid's Tale."

I really loved "The Wrath and the Dawn." I normally don't like YA books but this book by Renee Ahdieh captured me from the first sentence. A take on One Thousand and One Nights, the book begins with Shahrzad entering the monstrous caliph's palace as his wife to seek revenge on the death of her best friend, Shiva, and all of the other brides he has killed before her. I've always been fascinated by this tale and I thought Ahdieh's take on the story brought a fresh approach to the centuries-old tale.

Monday, I slept in again and started my next book, "In the Woods," by Tana French. I had some work to do which I took care of in between painting extra coats on the secretary desk. When I finally wrapped up for the day, The Pilot and I made our way to Anxo, a new cider that opened in the Brightwood neighborhood of DC this weekend.

We sipped some cider and then headed to dinner at The Pub and the People. After indulging in a round of drinks and each getting dessert, we headed home and took Peyton for a long walk and a play date before settling in to watch Harry Potter. We finally got a new DVD player (after our old one broke almost 3 years ago) and we've started watching all of the movies again (outside of the Harry Potter marathons on TV all the time). Last night, we watched "The Chamber of Secrets."

I needed this weekend to try to get back out into the world. It wasn't exactly a great weekend but it was what I needed. I've got a long week ahead of me at work and I'm hoping I can get back to running and try to find my new normal.

When The Pilot and I left Melbourne, we planned to arrive in Sydney late in the evening. We booked an Air B&B near the airport with thoughts of crashing there and making our way back to DC the next morning. Unfortunately, when you're flying standby, things don't always work out the way you planned and, after making our way to the airport and not getting on our flight, we found ourselves with an extra day to play in Sydney.

February. My goodness, this month has been endless. For the shortest month of the year, it seems painful how slowly this month has dragged by.


February has been such a strange month. I was gone for nearly half the month, and when I was home, I was sick. I mentioned in my January recap that I've never felt quite as unsettled in this apartment as I have in other moves, and that's still the case. While The Pilot and I did manage to finally hang some pictures in the bedroom and living room, I still have nearly a dozen boxes I haven't unpacked. I still haven't unpacked most of my clothes (yes, I'm serious), and I really feel like I'm drowning. I've been working from home more than usual in an attempt to play catch up on my life and that hasn't helped at all. At least I've finally cleared up space to used my home office as such, rather than as just a storage unit.

So, February. I was in unexpectedly in Texas for the first half of the month when my dad got sick. He's doing much better now and I'm grateful for that. I came back to DC four days before my 30th birthday with the flu. My birthday was completely uneventful because I was still sick. I didn't actually start feeling better until about two days before I left for Florida for the Disney Princess Half this weekend and, while I was worried about being undertrained and having minimal lung capacity from being sick, I managed to have a good race. (Recap coming soon!)

Of course, after being up 22 hours straight because of a ridiculously early start time, I now, again, feel like I'm getting sick. February, go away, you're drunk.

Here's a look at how my month went in numbers:

Last week, I had plans to fly to Palm Springs, CA with The Pilot. He was going to a conference and I wanted to tag along to soak up some California sunshine in the dead of DC's winter.


The Pilot had to be there before I could get out and on Wednesday, I left my house and headed to the airport. I hadn't even been in my uber for 5 minutes when I asked the driver to turn around and take my back home. I had checked my connecting flight and what had previously shown 3 available seats with 2 people on standby now showed a completely full flight with 3 revenue passengers on standby and knew I wasn't going to make it out that night. Because of the time difference, and the fact that at this point, I would only be on the West Coast for two days, I decided against going.

I really didn't want to be in town for the Inauguration so I called my mom and decided to crash her and my aunt's Friday night plans to see "The Phantom of the Opera."

We had dinner near the theater, at an Italian restaurant called Becco that didn't disappoint and then wandered through Time Square for a bit before making our way to the theater. I had seen Phantom once before, about 10 years ago, and the show was just as wonderful as I remembered it.

My mom and I got back to her house around 1 am and I spent the next hour trying to figure out my plans for the next morning.

Over the course of the day, I had learned that within hours of the Inauguration, the White House website was no longer available in Spanish. Something about this set me off. It was this, combined with all of the tweets, the derogatory comments about women, disabled people, and every other minority, the conflicts of interest, the Nazi salutes, the increase in hate crimes, the inability to call my non-existent Senator or Member of Congress, the innumerable facts of what this election has meant just set me off. I hadn't planned to be at the Women's March on Washington but all of a sudden, I couldn't miss it. So, on minimal sleep, and without a flight to get on, I boarded an early train full of women in pink hats back home to DC. I got home, dropped my stuff on, and made my way to Capitol Hill. I joined the million other women on the Hill, and my husband later joined me, and I took part in this momentous occasion to show that our voices, whatever they are saying, will not be silenced.


I still feel completely useless as a DC resident with no representation to call to represent me, but Saturday, I felt like I did something and I will continue to find ways to do what I can to make sure that I, as a first generation, Latin American woman, am not silenced.

I can't believe it's been since June that I've written one of these posts! Remember when I tried to start a link up with these? Oops!

I started my "new" job in February and it's the busiest job I've ever had. Seven months in, I'm finally starting to understand my new normal and I'm hoping that I can start spending more time on my blog again! I pulled together a drafting schedule for the month of October, and I really hope I can stick to it! For now, I think a 'Currently' post is a great way to update you all on what's going on with me!

Feeling... sick. I caught a terrible cold in Australia! Luckily, I didn't actually start feeling sick until our last day there, but I've been fighting this off since we got home on Monday night.

Reading... "Lilac Girls" by Martha Hall Kelly. If you're part of the Beyond Bloggers Book Club (or want to be!), you still have time to read this before we link up about it next Friday! It's a historical fiction book about WWII and so far, I like it.

Watching... nothing. I've been gone for the last two weeks, but even before that, things were so busy with work and running that I haven't really watched much TV lately. I am excited for Fall TV to come back, though. I'm most excited for "The Mindy Project," "Once Upon a Time," and "Scandal"(maybe). I'm pretty excited for the new show "Pitch" too, about a woman who makes it as a Major League pitcher.

Thinking about... resting up and picking up marathon training where I left off. I ran while I was in Australia, but I definitely wasn't training like I should have been. I hope that the solid 15-miler I put in before I left sets me up to pick up where I left off.

Working on... my posts about Australia! It was the most amazing trip I've ever taken and I promise it won't take me three months to get those posts up like it did with my Paris posts!

Needing... a new pair of running shoes. I've bought three this summer and returned all of them after they make my feet go completely numb about 5 minutes into the run. I have no idea why this is happening.

Craving... biscoff cookies. Yesterday, I was trying to sleep on our flight home from LA but we were in the last row of the plane and it was impossible. The flight attendant left me a biscoff cookie but I was still trying to sleep. When I woke up, she had cleared my tray table and taken it away!

Annoyed by... the complete and utter incompetence of 50% of the people on an airplane.

Excited... to start cooking my way through the cookbook I bought in Paris. The AWFUL movers we hired lost the original book I bought (it was in a bag I told them specifically not to touch but they didn't listen) and I just picked it up again...it isn't the same, though, since it doesn't have the Shakespeare and Company stamp =(

Hoping... to rest up and recover with a lazy weekend, but also to get some miles in!

Good Morning friends!


It's the middle of May and the temperatures are in the 40s. Yesterday was the first day it didn't rain in DC in 18 days and it's supposed to start up again tomorrow. It's so depressing! The temperature hasn't broken 80 degrees yet and I'm seriously contemplating moving to Florida.

Despite all of this, I'm finally starting to feel better about everything. I've been in such a weird funk for the last month, partially due to weather, partially due to being so busy at work, there was just a lot that was keeping me from really feeling like myself, but things are good now!

I'm planning a "Day in the Life" post soon so you can see just what's keeping me so crazy! In the meantime, I'll fill you all in over a morning cup of coffee on this cold, DC morning.

I started training for the Sea Wheeze Half-Marathon. The race is in August, 13 weeks away, and this will definitely be the longest I've ever trained for a half, but I've finally come to terms with where I am with running. Chicago was a disaster and then I spent the next few months half-assing my way through training plan after training plan, only to stop training, or never even sign up in the first place.

I'm starting to make some pretty amazing summer plans. Even though it feels like it might never be summer, I started finalizing a lot of summer plans this weekend including a girls' weekend in New York with Holly and a trip to Paris with my mom and aunt! I'm hoping to take a trip to Boston too, and possibly LA...then, of course, I have a few more baseball stadiums to cross off my list!

I've been binge watching Gilmore Girls at an alarming rate. I've gone through 5 seasons in 3 weeks. I'm obsessed. I had never watched the show before (I KNOW!) and now I can't stop. I'm in the middle of season 5 and here are some thoughts overall:

• I hate Richard and Emily. I know you're supposed to, but their behavior is always the same and after 5 seasons, it's getting old. Maybe it wouldn't bother me as much if I wasn't watching eight episodes a day, but I can't stand them. 
• I'm neither Team Dean or Team Jess. 
• I love Luke and Lorelai but I was always Team Christopher until last night (Episode 100 when Richard and Emily renew their vows), and now I don't ever want to see him again. 
• I've never liked Melissa McCarthy, but I love her as Sookie.
• Did you know that Max Greenfield (Schmidt from New Girl) makes a cameo the night of Dean's bachelorette party?

• I really hate that Rory went to Yale. Especally after that nonsense Richard pulled when he brought her to visit. 

Good Morning friends! Happy Monday!

It's been awhile since I've written one of these posts and since my posts have been less frequent than normal, I thought I'd update you all on what's been going on over a little coffee date!


So, if we were having coffee, I would tell you that:

I think I'm still jetlagged from my trip to San Francisco. A few really late nights at work this week didn't help. but I'm exhausted. I had the day off on Friday and I slept until 11. Saturday wasn't much different. I spent the day binge watching Gilmore Girls while doing laundry and a little bit of cleaning, but I really needed the weekend to just veg out.

I didn't run once last week...or any other form of exercise. I came back from San Francisco with a really strange soreness in my hip and I was exhausted, so I took the week off. I already feel better.

I still hate my haircut. Yup, the one I got 2 months ago? My bangs are growing out in the weirdest way possible and pinning them back isn't an option because of the way they were cut and I'm agonizing over the day that they fully grow back.

Monthly meal planning is working out wonderfully. I wrote this post at the beginning of the month about my meal planning epiphany to meal plan once at the beginning of the month and recycle all meals. On top of being wildly easy, I'm saving so much money by not having food go to waste and knowing exactly what to do with what's in my fridge. I wanted to test this out before I went into detail about it, but since it's working so well, I plan to share next month's meal plan with menus and walk you through the process week by week!

I need a serious reset on my work-life balance. I love my job but I have never been so busy in my life. Things will hopefully slow down a little bit in May before picking back up again in June, but I need to start making more time for myself - morning workouts, planned lunch breaks, scheduled time-outs in the evening, more time for reading, more time outside (if it ever gets warm enough to actually just be able to lay in the grass and enjoy the sun), etc.

My first year in Junior League is almost over. I'll finish the last of my requirements this week and then I'll be done! I liked my first year in the League but I'm excited for next year when I won't have as many requirements.

I'm on Season 3 of Gilmore Girls and I'm totally hooked. I don't know why I never watched this show when it was on, but I love it!

When I was a kid, my favorite books to read fell into the fantasy genre. One day, in the 7th grade, my mom brought a book home about a boy who finds out he's a wizard and heads off to wizarding school in London.

I was hooked. Harry Potter became a defining piece of the next 9+ years of my life. I was in 7th grade when I read The Sorcerer's Stone and in my third year of college when "The Deathly Hallows" was released.

The first film adaptation of "The Deathly Hallows" came out the night before I ran my first marathon and I booked tickets in a theater in Philadelphia so that I could see it right away.

I followed the books and films religiously, desperately speculating on what would happen next to Harry and his friends.


Lately, though I'm tired of it. I've been wanting to reread the series for awhile now but I can't bring myself to because J.K. Rowling is ruining it.

It seems like every two months, J.K. Rowling comes out with some new, world-changing "fact" about the series and it's getting old.

She needs to let it go. She needs to stop tweeting new ideas and theories and let the audience speculate on their own. I'm thrilled that "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them" is becoming a film. I'd love to see more spinoffs from the film. I would love to see her write a prequel series about the original Oder of the Phoenix. There are so many ways that she can keep the Wizarding World alive without, well, ruining it.

Buzzfeed did an article last year about "new things we've learned" since the final book was released five years ago. So did Time Magazine. Some of those things don't bother me...like Moaning Myrtle's real name, or that Harry's son was sorted into Gryffindor. I appreciate that J.K. Rowling takes the time to respond to readers' questions, but some of the things she says are ridiculous.

For example:

• Why is Dumbledore gay? Dumbledor's sexuality isn't something that my 12- or even 21-year-old self ever considered. It isn't relative to the story...at all. I don't have a problem with it...but why?
• Her regret and apology over Fred's death are bullsh*t. She made the decision to kill him. OWN it. She can't come back years later and say that she's sorry about it.
• On a similar note, her 'confession' that Hermione and Ron shouldn't have ended up together...well, we all felt that way, but again SHE is the one who made that decision. Undoing it now just puts the whole end of the series into question.Why did they all have to marry each other anyway? 
• Harry became "an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic." Great. Thank you for turning this fantastic wizarding world, which was so more exciting than my childhood could ever be, and telling the world that Harry's adult life is about as exciting as real adult life. I hated the Epilogue of the 7th novel and thought the atrocious film adaptation of it merited how terrible the epilogue actually was, but for her to come out and say that Harry had this tremendously scary and exciting childhood and that now he's just an overworked government employee...well that sucks. 
• J.K. Rowling played a very heavy hand in the film adaptations. So, why is she now telling everyone that we've all been saying Voldemort incorrectly?

If she really wants to keep the series alive, go backward. Tell us more about James and Lily, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Personally, I would love to read that story, but as for the original 7, I'd prefer if they were left the way they were.

I really don't know if I'm going to read "The Cursed Child." The Pilot and I are thinking about a trip to London this summer and seeing it isn't high on my priority list. I'm just not that curious about it.

Good Morning friends!

I was really under the weather this weekend and missed out on a lot of fun weekend plans. I'm slowly coming back to life, but I thought I'd fill you in on what's been going on in my busy, busy world over a coffee date!

I slept for 24 hours this weekend. I came home from work Friday and was completely exhausted. I was in bed by 9:30 and slept until 10:00 Saturday morning when I woke up with a miserable cold. I spent the day on the couch watching episodes of Gilmore Girls and catching up on Scandal, Downton Abbey, and Once Upon a Time. It wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday, except for the fact that I was sick. Sunday morning, I slept even later...until noon. Yikes!

Friday was quite possibly the best workday ever. There's a yoga studio here in DC (Flow Yoga on 14th Street for those of you who are local) that started doing Friday Workflow. They set up one of their studios as a work space with tons of different options for standing desks, sitting desks, etc. It' just a super comfortable way to work outside the office complete with meditation and yoga breaks and the option for a Thai Yoga massage which I absolutely took advantage of. I was there with about 7 of my coworkers and it was awesome!

I still hate my haircut. It's starting to grow out and by out, I don't mean longer, I mean physically out. I think I look like one of the three stooged. I've had bangs once before, but they looked way better than these do.

I finished watching Downton Abbey. I like the way it ended, but I feel like they could easily have gone another season.

Carolann and I are taking suggestions for our next book club pick. If you joined the book club, check out the Discussion Board to talk about how you're feeling about The Memory Keeper's Daughter and to suggest a pick for our next book club!

I'm supposed to start marathon training today. I've decided (but not registered) to run the San Francisco Marathon in July and I'm trying out a new training plan that is wildly different from any other plan I've done, but I think it's going to work really well for me. It's Bart Yasso's The Perfect 10. I'll post more about it in one of my Weekly Workout posts, but I'm supposed to start today off with a Tempo run and with how I was feeling this weekend, that might not happen. This training plan offers a lot of wiggle room though, so if it doesn't, I think it'll be ok.

 

A year and a half ago, we got married. There are days when it feels like our wedding was yesterday and other days when it feels like it was a lot longer than 18 months.

It's crazy to think that our wedding was a year and a half ago. So much has happened in that time. We moved, we started new jobs, we lost family members, and we learned a fast lesson in parenting when Peyton got sick.

I still consider us newlyweds...especially when you consider that of those 18 months, we've probably only actually spent half of that time together. Last year, the Pilot had a job with no set schedule. He would routinely be called in on his off days, and trips that should have only kept him away for a night or two often turned into five or six. We neversaw each other and it was really hard. He has a new job now and it already looks like things will be much better than at his last job.

We've done a lot of really awesome things in such a short time. We went to our first wedding as a married couple, which was ridiculously exciting for some reason. We saw three other sets of friends get married. He supported me through every step of training for the Chicago Marathon, sometimes biking alongside on my long runs, indulging in my ridiculous post run cravings that changed by the second, and being there with a giant balloon all along the course. We tried new things, made new friends, saw our team make it to the World Series, and took three incredible trips to Lisbon, Hawaii, and Dubai.

We've been together for almost 7 years and we're still learning so much about each other. I definitely think married life feels different than before we were married. I can't verbalize how; it just is.


Our marriage will always be unique because so much of it is lived long distance. There is no greater feeling than when he comes home after being away for 4 days. We do that every week. Sometimes, those 4 days feel endless, and other times, they breeze by.

In the last year and a half, The Pilot has been there for me in ways that I never thought he would have to be and I'm grateful for every minute we're able to spend together.

Feeling... relieved. I accidentally spilled some water on my brand new computer the other day and it started shorting out. I took it to the store and they were able to remove the back panel and dry it off. After leaving it in rice for 24 hours, it's working just fine!

Reading... "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. This is our blogger's book club book and I am having a hard time with it.

Watching... Gilmore Girls. I never watched this show when it was on TV. I've seen a few episodes on ABC Family Free Form but never enough to actually follow the plot of the show. This weekend, I decided to put it on while folding laundry and five episodes later...

Listening to... "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Thinking about... what the next year is going to look like.

Working on... playing catch up with email and blogs.

Needing... a long weekend.

Wanting... to see the National Parks IMAX movie at the Natural History Museum.

Annoyed... that I left my running shoes at the spin studio I went to on Saturday and have been there twice to pick them up only to find them closed at times they said they would be open.

Excited... for spring, Cherry Blossoms, visits from Mom, and baseball season!

Hoping... that I can plan a trip to they Bay Area for my sister's documentary. It's the same week as my race which is feasible, but might be tough.

Loving... ClassPass! I've been to three classes so far and I'm really loving it!

Happy Monday friends! If you're anything like me, you could have used an extra day in your weekend!

Since I started this blog in 2010, I've committed to goals at the start of every year and loved seeing my progress at the end of each year.

I didn't do that last year.

Instead, I said, "I don't want to be bound by a to-do list for the year. I want to be adventurous and spontaneous and I want to learn things and see things and do things."

I made a list of some things that I wanted to work on but didn't really care if I did. Those things included yoga, making more food at home, rather than buying pre-packaged stuff, shopping locally at my local farmers' market, reading more non-fiction, saving money, and exploring more of DC,

I started off the year doing a lot of yoga...and that took a backseat. I've definitely been better at doing yoga at home this year thanks to Yoga with Adriene, but I don't think I get as much out of yoga in my living room (with the dog running around me and the oven preheating for dinner) as I do in a studio.

I definitely tried my hand in some Adventures in Homemade - homemade bread, homemade tomato sauce, pasteis de nata (from Portugal), but I'd like to get better at that, and actually blog about those adventures.

Clockwise from Left: Apple Picking in VA, Hiking in Rock Creek Park, a homemade lattice top pie, at home yoga, "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I think I shopped at the Farmers' Market once.

I failed miserably at exploring more of DC. We moved into a new neighborhood and I love it so much, I hardly ever left. I definitely read way more non-fiction than usual and I saved a ton of money.

I definitely had some awesome experiences in 2015. I was finally able to race uninjured and did so at DC Rock 'n' Roll, Cherry Blossom, and finally, Chicago. I traveled a lot.

• I celebrated my sister's 40th birthday at the Sundance Film Festival.
• The Pilot and I visited my sister in San Francisco.
• My mom and I went to Lisbon together, and The Pilot joined.
• We celebrated our 1st anniversary in Hawaii and then took off on an impromptu trip to Dubai six weeks later.
• I spent a few days in St. Louis for work, and fell in love with the city.

The Pilot and I spent more time apart than we ever have. He started the year away in training for a new job for 3 months...and then left again for training with another airline at the beginning of December. He left right after Peyton's surgery and it was tough taking care of her by myself. Peyton's cancer diagnosis in itself was a tough blow but I'm so grateful that we were able to act quickly with the support of some really generous family and friends.

I don't think I was my best self in 2015. I think I was selfish in a lot of regards, but at the same time, I didn't really do anything for myself. I half-assed my way through marathon training, almost reinjuring myself in the process. I spent more time on my couch this year than ever before, I turned down a lot of plans and invitations and secluded myself. I'm not even really sure why.

I'll be 29 in 2016 and lately, I've been thinking a lot about where I want to be at 30. I want to be more committed this year...to everything...to running, to blogging, to my family, to traveling...everything. I want to be my best self at 29 and that means saying "Yes" a lot more, and being the adventurous, spontaneous self that has always made my happiest. I'll be back later this week with how I plan to make that happen!

A few weeks ago, after spending the weekend away and not having any food in the house, I fell down a rabbit hole of eating horribly. There were bagels every day, there were more slices of pizza in one night than I'm willing to admit. There were cookies and muffins and cupcakes...you get the picture.

Needless to say, I felt awful.

For some time, I've been paying a lot more attention to what I'm eating..not just what I'm eating, but what's in the food I'm eating. Did you know that there are brands of regular milk that contain carageenan?

There has been a lot of hype lately about the Whole 30. I've seen countless blog posts, Pinterest recipes, and social media posts about Whole 30. Naturally, I was intrigued. Some of the recipes I saw on Pinterest looked delicious and I was really interested in the idea of reducing sugar and processed foods...but when I dove a little deeper, I realized that this wasn't something I could fully support or participate in. Here's why.


1. The Rules - The rules are pretty strict. No added sugar (Fine). No alcohol (Fine). No grains including "pseudo-grains like quinoa" (Umm what?). No legumes including beans of all kinds and chickpeas (again...Umm what?). No soy products (Fine.) No dairy, carageenan, MSG or sulfites (Fine) and no recreating baked goods or treats with "approved" ingredients.

What can you eat? Fruits, vegetables and meat...including bacon. Yes, bacon. You're not allowed to eat honey or quinoa but you can eat bacon.

Quinoa is exceptionally healthy. Bacon is not. As a pescatarian (who only eats seafood on occasion), I can't give up quinoa, chickpeas, edamame or any other forms of protein that I rely on. The vegetarian/vegan version of Whole 30 allows some exceptions (chickpeas) but not others (quinoa)...which makes me wonder...why is it ok for vegetarians to eat chickpeas but not meat eaters?

The rules also fall into the shaming category the way "Skinny Bitch" did. The language is...pretty aggressive. For example, when they say:

"Don't even consider the possibility of a 'slip.' Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no 'slip.' You make the choice to eat something unhealthy." Ouch. So if I'm doing the Whole 30 and eat a cup of quinoa one day, I ruined the whole thing? 

Or:

"Don't you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard." and "You won't get any coddling, and you won't get any sympathy for your 'struggles'."

2. It doesn't make sense - The biggest reason we aren't doing Whole 30 is because I can't understand why we should. The author of the book, "It Starts with Food" (I know they don't want it called a diet but anything that restrictive really can't be called anything else) is a Certified Sports Nutrionist (not a Registered Dietitian) but on the website's official "Can I have...?" , the author herself says some things that leave me skeptical like:

I spent hours pouring through the entire comment thread on that "Can I have..." page and I just couldn't wrap my head around some of the restrictions. They recommend not drinking smoothies even if they're compliant because you shouldn't drink your fruits and vegetables. Vanilla extract isn't ok because it contains alcohol. They even say that this isn't logical...but you still shouldn't do it. In one of the comments, Melissa even says that she often feels like writing "Because I said so" in response to all of the questions of why certain foods aren't compliant.

3. I don't want to feel like crap - Everyone I've read about or talked to has done the Whole 30 has described feeling hungover for most of it. The most common theme is that everyone seems to eat 6 Larabars a day because they're always hungry. Whole 30 even tells you to expect to feel like crap throughout it. It's simple, I don't want to feel like crap. I don't want to feel hungover, or like I want to kill things. I don't want to feel like my pants are getting tighter...even if it is only temporary. I don't think it's possible to restrict your diet so much and still feel good. I don't want to shock my body. It's why I've never done a juice cleanse.

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4. I believe in moderation - Since May 4th (we started on a Monday), The Pilot and I have undertaken our own 'challenge' of sorts. We've eliminated processed foods, added sugars and alcohol. Both of us feel incredible. We're keeping carbs (like rice and whole grain pasta) and dairy to a minimum. It doesn't feel restrictive at all. What do I miss? Cookies. What does The Pilot miss? Chips...and meat. (We aren't restricting meat, I just haven't been cooking it). I'd so much rather eat a bowl of roasted chickpeas or edamame at 3:00 as a snack than eat 6 Larabars throughout my work day.

That's why we aren't doing the Whole 30. I'm an academic, I like to research things...so before I embarked on something that I knew it wasn't right for me.  I had to do my research and quite frankly, eliminating something from my diet because someone "said so" isn't my game.

If you've done the Whole 30 and stuck with it, good for you! I mean that. I wouldn't even give it a shot, but that's because it wasn't right for me. You probably have or had just as many reasons for doing it as I had against.

There are some people who would benefit tremendously from the Whole 30. I think it's an excellent way to learn the ways your body reacts to certain foods in order to place an allergy or insensitivity. I think it's great for someone who doesn't have an idea what foods are processed or contain additives.