Cleanse Day Eleven: Balsamic Chicken And Cursing At My Scale

Holy hell, I made myself the most amazing dinner for Cleanse Day Eleven.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken.

Dinner has quickly become my favorite meal of the day since the shakes I have for breakfast and lunch have become pretty redundant - not that I don't enjoy them because I sincerely do now.

Even the Chocolate shakes have won me over. Funny how that happened when I used to loathe them.

But dinner.... mmmmmm dinner.

Before I started this nutritional cleanse I kind of just shoved whatever I had around the house in my mouth. My dinners consisted of little flavor, but lots of cheese or sour cream on top to make them seem tastier.

Since I'm not allowed dairy during my cleanse covering my meals in cheese has been out. I'm also not allowed to have red meat or pork during my cleanse, so I've learned to appreciate the flavors that fresh herbs and spices bring to chicken.

But last night's dinner was truly amazeballs and super easy to make, so I'm sharing the recipe with you:

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken

4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts ( I used 2 just because I was only making it for myself)
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 tsp each dried oregano, basil, rosemary(I used fresh because I had it on hand, so I doubled the amount for each)
1/2 tsp thyme

Pour olive oil on bottom of slow cooker. Add chicken breasts. Put sliced onion on top, then sprinkle with herbs and add in garlic cloves. Pour vinegar over all and top with diced tomatoes.

Cook on high for 4 hours.

I served mine with brown rice to soak up some of the delicious sauce, but you can serve with anything.

So on to my verbal bashing of the scale....

It still has not budged, but I had a bit of an epiphany while I was cursing at it yesterday.

Perhaps this is a lesson is self-love for me now that the scale is not moving, but I'm feeling incredible.

There's always been a little voice in my head that has put myself down whenever I've stepped on the scale and not liked the number I've seen - even if overall I felt I was looking pretty darn sexy.

In all honesty, that scale is what had hindered many of my efforts to get in shape in the past. I've allowed that number to discourage me, even when I've felt good about getting healthy.

And if I'm being completely honest, I've used that number as a cop-out before; as an excuse to slip back into my old non-exercising and cupcake-binge-eating ways, simply because that's often easier than putting the work in to get fit and strong.

Maybe, just maybe, this is my body's way of saying "HEY LADY, STOP OBSESSING ABOUT THAT NUMBER. You're doing awesome no matter what that scale says, DAMN IT!!"

I sure do feel awesome. I have more energy than ever. My mind is clearer. And my happy mood is a lot more consistent since I started this cleanse. When life throws me lemons I've had a lot more patience to deal with them lately.

It feels great to know I'm doing something good for my body with this cleanse - so I'm going to forget about that number on the scale for the rest of it.

In fact, I'm going to give my scale to someone for safe keeping until October 25th so I'm not even tempted to step on it for the rest of this cleanse.

I'm done worrying about my weight right now. I'm going to enjoy how awesome I feel and appreciate how I look in the mirror, without being jaded by a number.

For the remainder of my cleanse I'll be sharing my fat burning progress with you at the end of each week based on inches lost instead of pounds.

Speaking of inches lost, I'll be kicking off my second "Deep Cleanse" Wednesday. I'm not looking forward to it, but I will endure. Hopefully y'all don't mind another video of me looking like a pothead.

Just for kicks I'm going to measure myself right before and after to show you what a "Deep Cleanse" does for your body.

Stay tuned...