The Viking Diet: Week 4

 

Week 4 of The Viking Diet went well...and it was also unexpected in some ways.

Sunday evening, after I finished dinner and was headed to bed I started getting a sore throat and a terrible, horrible pain in my neck. So bad in fact, that I had to take an Advil - which, if anyone knows me, knows I'm quite holistic and don't like to take medicine.

Day 1 of week 4, and I was back to work in the morning with my standard breakfast:

Plain yogurt, fresh strawberries and some walnuts.

For lunch, I had some smoked salmon with peas...

For dinner...

I made baked salmon with butter, a ground walnuts on top as a crust. Placed a top of baby spinach, honey crisp apple slices, and on top of the salmon, some of the left over spinach pesto and more of the ground walnuts as a garnish.

Day 2, and because my throat was still super sore, I decided to make a strawberry smoothie with half and half but without the ice.

For lunch, I had baked chicken thighs with sauteed onions, mushrooms, baked garlic and peas...

Dinner was scrambled eggs with one all-beef 100% grass fed hot dog link, with the remainder of the spinach pesto on top.

Day 3 was some oatmeal with strawberries and half and half for breakfast...

Followed by the same as the day before for lunch...

Dinner was sauteed spinach with garlic, butter and half and half, with over medium eggs on top 

Day 4, and my pain was getting worse, and I was getting suspicious that this sore throat was not as innocent as I had originally thought. By the end of the day I was in so much pain I couldn't wait to clock out so that I could go to the doctor. And I do not like going to the doctor.

Breakfast that morning though was an apple with some walnuts and hazelnuts. I picked it all of it.
By the time I got to my lunch I picked at that as well, which is saying something since it wasn't much either.

A few strips of chicken breast cooked in honey with a touch of the left over sauteed spinach with garlic on top and a few spinach leaves.

I found out from the doctor I went to that I had strep throat and an ear infection. Lucky me. So, against my will I was forced to start taking antibiotics, and I kicked up my dosage of Advil too, as the pain was just getting worse and worse.

That night for dinner, though I wasn't hungry but needed to eat with my new pill, I had some 100% grass-fed beef hot dogs mixed with some sauteed onions and peas.

I was sentenced to stay at home the next few days.

Day 5 started with a big pill and some scrambled eggs and tea.

For lunch, I made my own cream of mushroom soup from scratch... and let me assure you, it was absolutely delicious.

Dinner was the left over honey chicken breast with spinach...

The next day was my cheat day, and I attempted to take it fairly easy on myself.

Breakfast was delicious. Some good ole' avocado toast made with sourdough bread, and some tea.

Lunch was some guacamole and blue chips...

And dinner, was a new creation of mine which turned out absolutely fabulous. Some pasta with ground beef, a new special cheese I discovered at Whole Foods - Gouda truffle - with butter, half and half, sage, rosemary, garlic and red onion...

And  yes, there was some Nutella and ice cream thrown in there that day too...

Day 7 of the diet would have been just fine...but I cheated on something special in the afternoon.

Still not doing 100%, I had some eggs in the morning with my pill, followed by a bowl of the leftover cream of mushroom soup that afternoon for lunch. But then my friend swung by with the most amazing cookies ever...and I ate them. 2 of them. Although I didn't finish them, they were huge. But they had frosting on them and they made me feel happy.

That evening I made chicken breast in white wine, with chicken broth, with the left over Gouda truffle cheese I had, garlic, onion, some half and half, butter, thyme, and salt.

A top a bed of baby spinach...

So that's it. That was it for The Viking Diet. I would say this was my biggest failure of all my diets so far this year because I cheated way more than on any of the other ones. I couldn't help but crave carbs. This may have been, without realizing it, the hardest one because of the lack of carbs...

I am super excited about my next diet though. I can't wait to share it with you all. Make sure you stay tuned!

"Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them..." - 1 Corinthians 6:13