Whole30 Day 27

Three more days!!!

I feel a lit better today, but I'm still quite congested... Hopefully my voice will be ok by tomorrow morning...

Forgot to take a photo of my delicious gyro, onion, and tomato omelet this morning... It was amazing. 

We put together our table and chairs from yesterday's Ikea trip and spent time with Bryan's family over the house. Our furry niece, Emmy, got to try out our big puppy toilet/adventure land (i.e. Our backyard) and our human niece, Kora, got to get some good burps!

We stopped by to see my family for a couple hours and I practiced my song with my brother for the funeral tomorrow. 

Then we picked up my favorite meal!

We settled in with our plates of awesome Arabic food to watch the series finale of Breaking Bad!!!

Seriously dude! Three more days!!! I get to have cheese!!!

Day 28 comin' up!

Whole30 Day 30 - 3/3 = 1!!!

I did it!!! I freaking did it!!! Oh my gord!!! Holy flip flops!!!

Er mah gerd!

Here's the food stuff:

Breakfast - plum, cashews

Lunch- Lamb Stew on Sweet Potato

Looks like barf, tastes so, so good. :)

Dinner- Strawberry Chicken Salad from the local Greek place sans cheese

Super good!

The carpet got installed today, so we went to Ikea to get some more furniture. 

Just some paint to touch up and we're ready to get Bryan moved in!!!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post where I announce how much I have lost in pounds and inches just by cutting out processed foods with more than four ingredients, all grains, sugar, fake sugar, and dairy for 30 days.

I know I'm excited! :)

Whole30 Day 29

Oh my gosh! Tomorrow is the last day of my first Whole30!!!

I had a tough time today as I had insane chocolate cravings. PMS is never fun, but it's even harder when cookies and chips are not allowed.

I was hungry this morning so I ate a banana and some raisins.

In true nearing-the-end-of-challenge form, I forgot to take a picture if my lunch. It looked a little like this (without the tortilla of course)

Philly steak and an egg cooked until just a little runny with salsa. So good you guys! I actually cooked the egg over the already cooked steak in the microwave at work. 2:45 was prefect for this slightly runny yolk and cooked white. Next time I'll add some avocado and maybe shredded lettuce.

Dinner tonight was not the traditional Tuesday night Middle Eastern of late. We worked on the house for a good couple hours and got Jimmy John's delivered before going to kick up our feet and watch some TV.

Sloppily put together Beach Club Unwich sans cheese and mayo plus a pickle for the win!!!

I'm ready for tomorrow and for the rest of my life looking at food in a completely different way. 

One more day!!!

Come on Day 30!

Whole30 Day 28

Day 28 was spent saying "see you later" to a wonderful man. My grandpa will be missed by so many who came out to pay respect and to honor his life. I am so lucky to have had such a selfless, caring, devoted example of unconditional love in my life.

The ceremony was beautiful. I got to honor him in song by closing the mass with "How Great Thou Art" and God gave me just enough clear nose time to do a decent job. 

There was a luncheon and I had a good sampling of turkey lunch meat, kielbasa and sauerkraut, olives, dill pickles, and some broasted chicken... I again neglected to take a photo.

After that, I headed home to catch up on some work and had some leftover chicken, and tuna with celery for dinner.

And a delicious orange and pear for dessert!

Back to welcome reality for a few days before flying to Portland for my cousin's wedding on Friday. Two days remain of my first Whole30 and I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I think I'll do this a couple times a year from now on.

Day 29, here I come!

Whole30 Day 22

Long day, too tired to write a post.  

Short post 

Lunch was salad

So was dinner

Finished painting molding

Hooray!

Whole30 Day 21

The countdown to the end begins with today. Oh my gosh I found the best lamb stew recipe and, thanks to swapping out the mashed chick peas for a better option, I am hooked!

Well, you can't see much from the photo thanks to the spinach blocking the view, but tender slow braised lamb with cumin, cardamom, onions and diced tomatoes on top of mashed yams lie under the blanket of greens. Thank God for slow cookers!

Dinner took forever because I decided it'd be fun to make garlic aioli. Three tries later (two failed and one successful) I sat down to this

Tuna salad with chopped red onion and green olives alongside the egg whites from my aioli attempts topped with the aforementioned aioli.

Really good stuff, though I should have listened to the internet a advice about cutting the extra virgin olive oil with pure olive oil. Extra virgin has a strooooong flavor! Thankfully, the garlic and seasonings made it turn out ok.

My friend Paige mentioned that, during this challenge, she and her husband correlated a feeling of hunger with feeling tired. I hadn't thought of it before, but I can say it's true thinking back to each time I felt I could just go to sleep. My body has re-learned that food is fuel. Rather than the processed, sodium packed, chemical laced, sugar coated, hormone ridden, pre-packaged nonsense food that I used to eat making me feel lethargic, tired, and lazy I get a little sleepy when it's time to fill up the tank.   

So day 21 begins tomorrow and it marks three weeks of success with nine to go. Sometimes I get a little longing for popcorn or something sweet. Occasionally I wish I could have toast with my eggs at brunch. But you know what? I don't stare at my plate anymore analyzing how much I've got left until the plate is clean. I set down my fork, look up, talk to the people I'm with and, more often than not, I leave food on my plate because I get to take the time to let my stomach catch up to my brain.

Blah blah blah, long-ish post.

See you tomorrow!

Whole30 Day 20 - 2/3 Whole

Day 20 got it's a** kicked!

Banana for breakfast

Scrambled eggs and melon for brunch

Q'Doba bowl o' chicken/guac for dinner

The only thing I got a photo of. :)

We stayed busy today at the house getting the first coat of white on the trim in the last two rooms. One more coat and all of the major rooms are done!!! We saved the kitchen for last since it's been a kind of hub of operations. I'm so excited about not getting paint in my hair or under my nails almost everyday that I could just dance!

This is the last full week of Whole30 and only 10 days to go!!!

I have some wonderful things planned for lunches this week so better, more diverse, food photos are on their way!

See you on the 10 day countdown!

Whole30 Day 19

Such busy day 19...

It went like this:

Woke up at 7

Put away mountain of drying dishes

Put in a load of laundry

Shower

Got call to be at house between 9 and 11 for the guy to measure for carpet

Grab wet clothes, put wet hair in ponytail and run over to the house

Throw clothes in new dryer (love it already)

Tape off all but the crown molding in the remaining rooms

Let measure guy in (only took like 10 minutes)

Realize I'm hungry and grab a handful of macadamia nuts

Fold clothes

Grab a Larabar mini just in case (glad I did)

Run up to the mall to return shoes/get stuff from Estée Lauder (Bryan's mom Janice works there)

Get some awesome eye make-up done by Janice

Run back home

Put clothes away

Immediately require a nap

Toss and turn for an hour or two

Get up

Go with Bryan to finish taping off the crown molding

Realize I'm starving and suggest dinner

Meet Janice and Bob (Bryan's parents) for dinner

Eat a steak, salad and (oh my lucky day) SWEET POTATO FRIES before I remember pics

Come home

Watch a couple shows 

Post this blog

Sorry there aren't any food pics. As you may have noticed, there wasn't much food. I am just not obsessed with eating anymore. Sometimes I think I could forget to eat all day and be fine with it.

Anyway, today was a good, busy, long day and I'm so glad that tomorrow is the last day if painting trim! Also, tomorrow is day 20, the first day of autumn (my favorite season), and the last day of the 2nd third of this journey. I'm so damn proud if myself! :)

Whole30 Day 18

It is the end if day 18 and I'm still going strong.

I had the same thing for lunch and dinner... I should call this thing the Middle Eastern30... I really hope I don't get tired of this kind of food (who am I kidding? that is not possible!!!).

I had noticed body composition changes within the first few days that, I now realize, must have been the bloating, water retention, and swelling going down due to eliminating potentially aggravating elements from my diet. Now, the body comp changes are straight up body fat loss. I love that my work pants feel like they're starting to get baggy. 

I need to say, though, that I did not commit to a Whole30 because of the potential to lose weight. I am doing this because my desire to break life-long pitfalls I have with feeding my feelings. However, I'm not going to complain about my chin returning to single status on the way. :)

Day 19 tomorrow. Almost 2/3rds of the way done and it seems to be flying by. 

I have never made it this far with no slip ups. Ever. In my life. 

I'll just say it, love the Whole30!

Whole30 Day 17

Seventeen days have passed since I started my first Whole 30 and I don't think I have really stopped to explain what it is. It comes from a book by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig called, "It Starts With Food" and something about changing your life, yadda, yadda, yadda .

I can't gush enough about how, even only seventeen days in, I feel changed. My "need to feed" is diminished to about zero. Cravings (real ones, not times I've said, "I miss pizzaaaaaa") are not gone, they're different. I have been craving watermelon, cashews, lamb, sweet potatoes, steak, avocado, and middle eastern salad dressing.

I also can't find the words to express my love of not measuring or weighing one damn thing this whole time. My clothes fit better, my skin is clearer, my aches and pains are disappearing, and I'm in an overall better mood. I'm not missing out on a thing. I've never heard, "there are donuts in the kitchen" and thought, "aw man! I am going to regret not eating one!".

I can't say it has been easy, but it has not been very hard at all and I know why they say, in the book, something like "don't you dare tell us this is hard".

This challenge has given me freedom from the self destructive nature of my relationship with food. I can't imagine sitting in the couch dipping Doritos in a can of processed cheese product or polishing off a whole can of Pringles in 20 minutes. I actually can't see myself eating one single Pringle again. <--- rhyming! Nailed it!

Anyway, on to the food pics!

Lunch was in my belly before I remembered to snap a pic... Again.

Potbelly Farmhouse Salad w/o cheese.

Aaaaaand for dinner, all I wanted was watermelon, but they were out at the market, so I went with my third favorite melon (they were out of honeydew too)

Cantaloupe, or as I call it  "Sing, Lupe!!!"

On to Day 18 folks!

G'night!

Whole30 Day 16

Day 16... The beginning of the end... Well, not the end of eating like a champ, but the end of my challenge.

I sleep better. I fall asleep faster, stay asleep, and wake up better. I'm less groggy, less reluctant to get the day started. This is something I have always wished I could say. :)

You'll notice I don't post pictures of breakfast, though I have posted a pic or two of breakfast food. This is because I've been trying another theory that involves only eating when I actually feel hunger. I don't know about you, reader, but I am super rarely hungry in the morning. At first, not eating breakfast was strange, mostly because I was so used to it. Now, I don't miss it at all. Sometimes I get a hunger pang around 10AM and pop a handful of cashews in my mouth or eat a Larabar.

Lunch was chicken with Imam Bayildi again. It was so good I forgot to get a picture again. :)

Here's a picture from the Internet.

Dinner was some baked garlic chicken with skillet fried sweet potato American fries AND lemon water!!! Oh how lemon juice can change a person's day! I was getting a bit bored with water bring the only thing I drink. 

Also, lemon Larabar for dessert.

I feel silly that I started this before I began reading It Starts with Food, but I didn't want to wait any longer... and I am reading it now. I highly recommend it. It is a good read and has a lot of useful information. Read it! Change you'd life! :)

Seventeen, here we come!

Whole30 Day 15

Half way there!!! Wooooooo hooooooo!!!

Another whirl of a day with a busy workload and a dentist appointment and more painting and more Arabic! :)

Lunch was almost scarfed before I could take a pic of my chicken salad with an Arabic vinaigrette. 

It was pretty dang good and it did the job of making me not hungry anymore. :)

Dinner was more Arabic (sensing a trend?). This time it was the good lamb, the BEST lamb EVER. Malek al Kabob

Same pic as the last time because I ate my food so fast last night that it was all gone when I remembered I'm supposed to be documenting this stuff!

I'm realizing food isn't playing as big of a part in my life as it used to. I'm not putting a lot if thought into when I can eat what. I'm perfectly happy with having a few great ingredients to use in a few great ways. I can't see me getting tired of Arabic! :) 

This will definitely be more than 30 days of my life, this will change it for good. I'm not saying I am going to live every meal 100% Whole, but I will be looking at a more 80/20 or 90/10 balance.

Half way. Wow! See you on the downhill slide to the finish!

Whole30 Day 14

Today marks two weeks. It was a gloomy day thanks to a cloud filled sky, but I got through it without comfort foods like fried anything or chocolate.

Lunch was a rush to get some shopping done in order to have lunch ever again. My friend Cindy and I picked up... You guessed it, Arabic food!!! I got a salad with lamb.

Not nearly as good as the lamb at Malek al Kabob in Taylor, but it was good.

I got home late due to a doctor's appointment and the subsequent pharmacy trip (nothing to worry about, just a bit of eczema on my hand). I just grilled some squash and a natural, uncured, nitrate free, blah blah blah jumbo hotdog from Trader Joe's. nothing exciting here.

Tomorrow will be the halfway point and I can't wait!!! I'm really looking forward to being done with painting the house so I can try out more new recipes. I'm thinking I'll shoot for braised lamb shoulder on Friday.

Whole30 Day 13

Tired, so tired...

Breakfast:

Why not have the salad I meant to have last night?

Today was action packed as well.

Went to brunch, visited my grandpa in the hospital (he's really sick, please pray), and painted a ton at the house (almost done!) 

I ate a Jimmy John's Unwich for dinner. There is a possibility of added sugar in the roast beef, but limited options made it the best choice. Add tomatoes, onions and avocado and you've got a pretty dang hearty, healthy dinner.

I'm exhausted, but for good reasons rather than detoxing from chemicals and additives. :)

I made it through a lean 13 and tomorrow will mark two weeks. Nearly half way to the finish. I have already started planning my first meal, though I haven't quite made up my mind. Maybe barbecue? Bacon? Something with cheese? Oh the possibilities! :)

Whole30 Day 10 - 1/3 Whole

It's day 10. I'm a third of the way in. I'm not missing any foods in terms of hunger, but I'm mentally obsessing about things I can't have right now, and probably should never have. Corn dogs? Seriously sub-conscience? That's a stupid craving!

I do have more energy and am sleeping more soundly. I slept all through the night for three nights now and it was wonderful. Then last night I woke up about three times, but that could have had more to do with the big storm we had than my dietary changes.

Lucky me, the storm knocked out the power at work so I got to work from home! PJ's on, laundry done, delicious hot breakfast! :)

Eggs with crispy prosciutto and burnt onions and a orange.

After more home working and then some working on the home I made some fish and grilled squash for a quick late-ish dinner

Mahi-Mahi with Lemon Pepper marinade

I've had some weird tingly feelings in my hands and a little bit in my feet for the past couple days so my doctor told me to take Benadryl and come see him on Monday. He said it's probably a pinched nerve, but I'm secretly hoping he'll say I have a potato chip deficiency! :)

The Benadryl knocked me out so I'm cutting this post right here.

See you on Day 11!

Whole30 Day 9

It's the ninth day and I'm so confused. I thought I was hungry, but didn't want my soup at lunch, the same soup I was raving about last week. All I wanted was watermelon and it seems I polished of the container I bought from Trader Joe's this afternoon before I could take a picture.

Leftovers again for dinner, only this time they were from last week's middle eastern adventure. Same great flavor so nothing new or exciting.

What's more exciting than any food item is that I finally finished the bedroom!!!

No more aqua paint! Yaaaaay!

That's it for today. Nice round number 10 coming up next!

Whole 30 Day 7

One week down!!!!!!!!!

I'm feeling so good about making it through a whole-hearted, committed week on this challenge. Today was a bit rougher as far as food smells though. The office was emitting wonderful scents of kettle corn, warmed up sandwiches, and frozen pasta meals from the microwave. I don't even like kettle corn!!!

Lunch was delicious though. I had an asian inspired chop salad with chicken, cashews, and dried cherries on a bed of chopped romaine, bok choy, scallion, cabbage, and red pepper with a dressing I made from my homemade mayo and a jar of roasted red peppers. 

For dinner I made a pot roast in my slow cooker with onions and peppers. I coated it with some of the garlic spread I had leftover from my last middle eastern restaurant visit and let it slow simmer on low while I was at work. Unfortunately the garlic wasn't enough to flavor the meat and I forgot that I hate cooked peppers. :) I ended up dowsing the beef with mustard and had an orange for desert.

I might be able to salvage the rest of the roast as a stew or just freeze it for when I can have some potatoes. 

My headache today was proof positive that there was sugar or dairy in the omelet yesterday. Oh well, just have to carry on with a closer eye on ingredients.

Also, the secondary goal of this challenge is to lose some weight, but the Whole 30 guidelines say you should not weigh or measure except for before and after the program. I can say that my pants are starting to feel loose!

Also, I forgot to thank my friend Paige who's daily Facebook posts inspired me to try this myself. Thanks for firing it up girl!

On to the second quarter!

Whole30 Day 6

One more day down and one day closer to a successfully completed week on the Whole 30 challenge. I'm feeling pretty good and I think the physical reactions to change (fatigue, crankiness, headaches) are about over. The cravings should be next so I need to keep momentum!

The weekly breakfast outing was a bit difficult and I only realized later that I probably goofed when I ordered a bacon, tomato, and onion omelet. Not just that conventionally raised pork is discouraged during the challenge, but that omelets are usually made with milk or even pancake batter to make them fluffier... But it was good, so at least I know I'm not musing cheese. Also love that one of my faves has all the right fresh fruit in their fruit dish!

Dinner was leftovers from last night. Again, probably conventionally raised pork, so I got that out if the way, heh?

On to Day 7! 

Whole30 Day 4

Ugh! Soooooo tired... Soooooo sleepy... Humph!

Day 4... Day 4 was like any other day. Except everything minutely annoying seemed amplified tenfold. Except how the smallest amount of physical exertion caused me to want to lay down on the floor and cry. Except how I could smell the sugar through the packaging of the candy bars while waiting in line at the store.

The girls and I went to Chipotle for lunch as a treat of not having to pack lunch. I meant to take a picture before I mashed it all to oblivion, but I got a chicken salad bowl with pico de gallo and guacamole. It was good, but next time I think I'll get one if the spicier salsas too.

After work I stopped by the house to paint the trim in the bedroom and that is when said wanting "to lay down on the floor and cry" happened.

Bryan and I headed for my place around eight to watch a movie and eat some dinner. He got Chinese take-out... It smelled soooooo good and fried and... 

I had some leftover chicken, veggies, and tuna from the day before... Still good and hit the spot!

On to Day 5!

I need strength and determination today. I have a baby shower in the morning and a grad party in the afternoon. Chances of finding Whole 30 approved food might be slim, but I've got a bag if cashews and an orange in my purse as security measure! :)

Whole30 Day 2

Day 2 is under my belt and I'm luckily not experiencing the headache I was promised yet... Though, maybe yesterday's migraine was a part of after all. 

Anyhow, today went well and I finally made it to the grocery store to stock up on good stuff. 

Lunch today was done chicken and this wonderful dish my Aunt Lorrie introduced me to call Imam Bayildi (layered eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and bit but of a spice kick). Very good. I felt an extreme need for sweet so I had some golden raisins too.

Dinner... Oh dinner!

I got a fresh cut of Angus steak while shopping and grilled it in my cast iron skillet in Ghee... aMAHzing! Sides were roasted sweet potato and a sliced orange. I couldn't finish the steak so now I have a future lunch already done! :)

I'm feeling fine, though looking at all the packages to see if there is added sugar, MSG, nitrates, or sulfates is a bit disheartening. Every package of Bacon or lunch meat had sugar added... Every single one... Even the "uncured" bacon. I need to find a bacon that I'm allowed to eat!!! 

Does anyone know of a brand of all natural, no sugar added, uncured bacon and where I can find it? I'd greatly appreciate it!