Upcoming long weekend, travel planning and Whole 30 Day 4

As you know, Ethan’s done with school, and Asher is off today and Monday for the long Memorial Day weekend. Ivan and I both work today, but have Monday off.

YAY!!!

We, quite gloriously, have no big plans, though I always like to use this “bonus holiday” weekend for part “getting things done” and part just “enjoying a third weekend day!!” Labor and Memorial Days are really the only holidays where we don’t have traditions/ plans and can just enjoy the time off.

High on my list is to finish up more of our Copenhagen planning. I have done sooooo little compared to our usual trips.

On the one hand, it feels mildly exhilarating. “We can just go and explore and see and do whatever strikes our fancy! No list to check off! No strict itinerary!”

On the other hand, it makes me want to panic. This is likely a personality thing, but I don’t actually find showing up in a foreign city with NO idea about logistics or how the metro pass works or if I need to buy tickets online vs can we just show up somewhere or any idea of what we’re doing to be “whimsical”. It feels stressful and anxiety-provoking, to me.

Last weekend I did make some good progress, so I’m really not in a terrible spot. I do have a loose itinerary sketched out (always tentative) and I think have our day trips sorted out.

My main goal now is to iron out the logistics. I’m particularly confused about if we should get the Copenhagen Card (one of those “value cards” that’s actually highly recommended; it gives you admission to practically every attraction AND includes all transport including to the airport, busses, metros, and even train transport out of the city (would cover our day trips), which sounds insanely convenient…) or not. But, we wouldn’t have the Copenhagen Card active the whole time, as it only goes up to 5 days, and we have, technically, 8, counting arrival + departure days.

One day in the middle we may rent a car for an out-of-town day trip to Mons Klint (see some nice pics on this blog post) and wouldn’t need it that day, so grouping the Copenhagen Card attractions gets tricky… Should we get it? Is it worth it for our plans? (Hard to say!) If so, how many/ which days should we get it for? It’s confusing. Also, I need to do math. I hate math.

If not, then there are these bundle metro passes which also confuse me with their different packages and zones. Or, of course, there are single tickets. Also, how much will we even need the metro?? Our apartment is very centrally located. Seeing as it’s just the 4 of us, we’ll probably walk a ton. I’m not sure! 😵‍💫 I also don’t want to do all of our day trips back to back, am trying to think how weekend crowds at places like Tivoli Gardens could impact us vs weekday, etc. Like I said, the logistics need sorting.

ANYWAY, you all probably do not really care about all these specifics. (Unless you have insight to my questions- in that case, EMAIL ME!) 😅 Moving on!

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Alright, Whole 30 Day 4 Update!

Day 4, Thursday, 5/23:

What I Ate:

B: 3 egg + veggie scramble with homemade chili paste, banana + strawberries

S1: Plum, then later, 1/2 banana before my workout.

L: leftover ground turkey + peppers mix, blood orange, the other half of my banana

D: Hmph. This almost derailed me. I MADE and INTENDED to eat slow cooker chicken with tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, chipotle peppers and cilantro. When Asher got off work at 7, though, he ended up begging to go to our Mexican place (no school Friday, so this was “like” Friday night, for him…). We said okay, but I immediately knew this was going to be un problema para mi. Restaurant food is generally not Whole 30 compliant, and also, I loooooove, like I LOVE, the chips + salsa part. So it was zero fun to go there and not be able to just eat and drink whatever I wanted. I crabbily ended up eating a side of steak + grilled chicken strips, dipped in salsa and guacamole, which in the end, was actually very tasty and satisfying, once I got past my little pity party. (I still wanted the chips and salsa, though. In fact, I still want some right now.)

The chicken I made but did not eat, yet:

How I felt/Observations/ Thoughts:

-Hmm. This day was fine until evening rolled around. Guys, I almost quit. I really, really, really suck at doing restrictive/ all-or-nothing things. I just feel all sad and sorry for myself and basically feel trapped, or something like that!!!

-Other thoughts: WHY am I such a weakling?! Elisabeth has done Whole 30. Lisa has done Whole 30. Sarah has (sort of) done Whole 30. My sister has done Whole 30- 3 times! My brother-in-law has done Whole 30. Why can everyone else stick to things and I can’t?!

-In fairness, I did not cave. But I wanted to/ still kind of want to, today. Haha. I don’t know.

-How I feel: Pretty good? I got really tired after work, but hard to say- that can just be normal for me. Ha. I got a second wind and felt better later. My body also feels instantly a bit leaner/ water weight removed.

-OF NOTE though, I lifted at lunch and felt WEAK! Did not like that! I couldn’t match my reps on some of the exercises from last week and my arms felt “noodle-y”. Reviewing the above, I think I needed more carbs! Or maybe just more food in general? See next point…

-Also a little concerned I’m inadvertently undereating a bit. I have not tracked my food (this is NOT at all a weight loss thing; just focusing primarily on my skin and how body feels, really), but maybe I should just to make sure it’s enough calories!! Looking back, this day looked low. Normally, I have a very hearty appetite and I eat a lot of calories, for my age and size. (Thanks strength training for making this possible?! I think my metabolism is generally strong.) These high fruit/veggie content meals really, really fill me up though. I literally ate lunch at 3 pm because I wasn’t hungry! This is also why I just ate a little meat plate at dinner- I wasn’t very hungry.

-I have not been “planning” my meals and am currently just making meals up as I go. As you can see, not following recipes but just combining whole foods, etc. This has been fine overall, but I definitely need some groceries today!

What’s the plan?

I’m not entirely sure. To be honest, I am having some second thoughts over here. 😆😆 Shocking, I know.

I am specifically not sure that I can, or want, to do this right up until our trip. I know from experience that the few days leading up to travel are stressful already. Screwing around with special meals and foods sounds… annoying and unnecessary.

I might cut it even shorter, say, at 20 days. Or, I might do, say, a full strict week now, and then just add back in grains. I really don’t think I have a grain issue. I’ve also had my blood tested for gluten intolerance last year and it was negative. I mostly have my eye on sugar + dairy + more processed foods, honestly.

Okay, that’s all for now! Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?! 😉

Oh, and in case anyone is curious, here is a list I printed of the allowed Whole 30 foods. (It seems to be missing beef? I know beef is allowed.)

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for Ivan’s favorite Mexican soccer team (Club América, out of Mexico City) making it to the big final! He is OBSESSED- literally- with this team, and watches every single game year round, so I’m happy for him about this. Game 1 was last night at 9 pm, so I donned one of his jerseys in support on the couch. 😉 It was a bit of an underwhelming draw: 0-0! Game 2/2 is Sunday night, so ultimate outcome TBD..…Sending good vibes to América! “Arriba las Águilas!”, as is their tag line. (Let’s go Eagles!)