Engage

I got engaged two days before my birthday. Aside from all of the expected excitement, I am very pleased to have a fantastic motivator for getting my nutrition cleaned up. I've got a pretty white dress in my near future and don't want to be a spanx covered, sweaty, cranky mess on the most romantic day of my life. :)

Bryan and I are going to get back to working out and, I think, we are going to get a dog to help keep us moving with no excuses. :)

A lot of smiles are in my life right now! 

Resolve

The new year brings a clean slate for many; a chance to start fresh on the right foot. This coming year represents another chance for me to get back on track to a strong & healthy body.

Though the shift in my weight has not been extreme (the loss has halted), I feel as though I was not ready to end the strict Paleo diet of the Whole30 back in October. With the new calendar I am hitting the reset button on my food choices and will fill my plate with whole, unprocessed food without sugar, grains, legumes, or dairy.

I'm shooting for a solid 45 days this time and will photoblog everyday again. 

Thanks for the support last time and I look forward to continued support for this coming challenge. You guys rock!

Love,

Mel

Brace Yourself

So, I'm getting braces in Thursday morning. My teeth have been shifting back to their gnarled grin since I lost my retainers years ago, but in the last year or two, it has gotten pretty twistely. I have a slight lisp due to bottom teeth overlapping and sounding like Cindy Brady isn't cute to me at my age. :)

Because if this, I am going to have a hard time eating for a while. I don't think I'm going to post pictures of mashed Sweet Potato or Scrambled Eggs everyday, but I'll update as best I can. 

I really haven't been as gung-ho about blogging anyway. In the new year, though, I'm going to do the strict Whole30 until Valentine's Day. That'll be like 45 days... Until then, I'll be gathering recipes and trying them out to see if they're menu worthy. Suggestions are most welcome.

Today was a weird, gray, gloomy day. I skipped breakfast in a hurry, ate a chicken salad lettuce wrap for lunch and had leftover chicken and "faux"lenta for dinner...

Lord knows when I get the braces, I might start dropping weight like crazy due to being afraid to chew! :)

Eighteen

Day 18

I was running late this morning and had to throw this in a bag then eat at my desk

Meal 1

Turkey, Onion, Sweet Potato & Cherry Frittata

Meal 2

Fruity Chicken Salad Wrap

Meal 3

Lamb Kofta (w/Green Salad)

Ok, so that's not a pic of my actual dinner, but it looked kinda like that and tasted just as good as this looks. I used a recipe that I found on nom nom paleo, which she found from Aarti Paarti's blog...

Resistible

I cannot express enough how much I want to stick my head in a bag of chocolate candies and suffocate on the caramel, coconut, peanut butter, mousse, and crisp rice fillings. I will not do it! Chocolate is a gateway drug that leads to me being buried alive under a mountain of candy wrappers and empty fast food bags. It took two weeks, but I took the unopened bag of Halloween candy back to the store today... VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

As for what I did eat... picture time begins... now...

Meal 1

BLT Frittata 

Meal 2

Not even worth a picture... friggin' Spiced Beef Stew w/friggin' Mashed Cauliflower AGAIN

I'm so over this one... next time I'll halve the recipe and make a savory stew as well so I can alternate.

Meal 3

Say it with me, "Pork Chops & Applesauce" w/Sautéed Butternut Squash... Mmm mmm mmm!

Tomorrow is Friday Eve... and I'm making Lamb Kofta!

Bye bye!

16

Tired!

Meal 1

Steak & Eggs

Meal 2

Asian Chopped Chicken Salad

Meal 3

Lebanese House Salad w/Lamb

Goodnight!!!

Fifteen

Day 15 of tracking my paleo menu plan and I haven't posted in a bit. This is not because I have been slacking. On the contrary, I have stuck with it pretty darn well aside from some bread at one meal for Bryan's sister's birthday, and some cake... I just got kinda bored posting the same thing I ate last week for breakfast/lunch. 

Anyway, I am recommitted to logging everyday, even if only for my benefit. :)

This weekend was exhausting! Starting off, I woke up at 6 on Saturday and that was it... No return to sleep for me. I got going right away and headed out to the store for some food and supplies. I got home, made all my lunches for the week, and made me some breakfast. Then it was time to chill for a sec watching a little tv before putting plastic up in my windows (drafty apartment might have been a part of waking up early). Then lunch and after that, I went over to Bryan's to help clean up the yard... So many leaves... Oh my word... Ran back home to help my friend Sarah load my old dresser/desk thingy

into her van and ran back to Bryan's to put my feet up. 

Sunday was more errands and trying to relax with debilitating back pain... I overdid it while raking, I guess.

Anyhow, today was a typical workday. Here's what my food looked like before I chewed it all up.

Meal 1

Roast Beef & Peppers Scramble

Meal 2

Chocolate Chili w/Onion, Green Olive & Avocado

Meal 3

Oven Roasted Chicken Breast w/Yam Wedges & Fauxlenta 

The Fauxlenta is this cauliflower/egg experiment that turned out the same texture and flavor as creamy polenta. I took two cups of mashed cauliflower and beat one egg into it. Grilled some onions in Ghee in a small skillet over medium heat and carefully poured the mixture over top trying not to move the onions (so it'd look neat like the pic), salted and peppered the top and covered it to let it cook/brown for about 10 minutes before flipping to lightly brown the other side. I split it and froze half for a future meal.

It was gooooood!

I made if halfway through this endeavor and, though much more lax than the Whole30, I have had quite a lot of the benefits of more whole foods. Even though I do seriously want crispy fried chicken or a big ol' cheeseburger, I am finding it more natural to not indulge each little whim. 

I am doing a full on Whole30 beginning January 2nd. Anyone that wants to play along, send me a note and I'll share my meal plan, recipes, and shopping lists with you.

Not Hungry!

I had a "just not hungry" kind of day, but I made myself eat breakfast anyway.

Roast Beef Onion and Peppers Omelet

I also forced lunch down my throat

Leftover Braised Beef and a tossed salad

I couldn't eat dinner today, though. I just wasn't hungry; maybe because I ruined my attempted veal piccata stew by adding roasted radishes, or because fixing it by scrapping the sauce and starting over took too long.

Anyway, I'm beat. Off to bed I go.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

I was right. I woke up at 6/new 7AM... I have a clean house now, but I am pooped! 

I had some grapes and then had gyro and eggs for brunch and it was delicious. I forgot to take a pic though. 

I also forgot to photo archive dinner, but it was tomato based lamb and vegetable soup from a local place. 

It's getting to be natural again. My only hurdle has been going out to eat and not touching any if the extras (bread, chips & salsa, toast, etc.) 

I am pretty sure I will have to remain conscious and vigilant to keep this up long term. No matter what, it really does beat the heck out of counting calories and weighing/measuring food.

Not much else to say today. It did mark day 7 so I've got another week of striving for a more paleo palate under my belt!

How Does One Sleep In?

Well, dinner last night made me feel like a garbage bucket, so maybe I can edit my "no regrets" comment to "only one regret!"

Aside from food choices literally ruining my dreams, I couldn't sleep in if I tried... I woke up at 7AM this morning... on a SATURDAY!!! That's a SIN!!! 

Being that no person that I know is up that early, I headed out to start my day by getting a fancy oil change at the DEALERSHIP!  (I love CAPSLOCK!) 

Then I rolled on to groceries, laundry, making lunches, chores, and catching up on mah stories... (Oh Hart of Dixie,  how I love you so...) After that, I headed over to Bryan's house/my future home to make us some dinner and watch some anime (Kids on the Slope)... After a quick-ish trip to Target, though, I was ridiculously tired.

I feel so old when I start nodding off at 9PM on a Saturday. I used to be a night owl. Going to bed at 2AM was a regular thing and sleeping until 10 or 11 was no oddity. I love sleep, a lot, but this "eight hours" business is starting to take up a bunch of my time. Since I'm becoming a Type A, over-planning, lunatic; I lose hours making all of my lunches for the week, processing the vegetables for all of my dinners, and getting obsessed over rearranging my closets. I either forgot how to let loose and have fun, or I just run out of time way too often. I get a little worried, sometimes, that my ability to adapt to change is lacking...  ("Le sigh" much? Geez!)

Anywhoozle, here's pictures of what I am currently digesting!!! Hooray!

Meal 1:

Spinach, Sweet Potato & Onion Frittata

Meal 2: 

Grilled, Uncured Hot Dog Slices w/Sauerkraut & Mustard

Meal 3:

Lemon Butter Mahi Mahi w/Green Salad & Grilled Zucchini, plus un-pictured grapes for dessert.

I know I'm going to sleep much better tonight with this good food nourishing my body. However, thanks to the end of daylight savings time, I'll still wake up at 7AM... I'm trying my best to stay awake as long as possible to avoid this, but resistance is probably futile! 

Maybe the more I eat clean, the less sleep I'll need, within reason, to feel well rested and refreshed? We shall see.

Goodnight everybody!

54 Days to Christmas

Feliz Día de los Muertos!

I'm starting the countdown to Christmas and I'm already super STOKED!!!

If you didn't know, Christmas is my favorite! Mostly because my birthday is three days before so it's an extra awesome time of year.

This year I will be turning 34... eesh! That's how old Rachel was at the end of Friends! Sounds like such a big number when I still act like a twelve year old. I'm glad I'm getting my butt in gear with cleaning up the food I eat though, because I'm just about at the age where I'm supposed to start obsessing about not looking my age. LOL!

Without further ado... Here are some pictures of my FOOD!!! :)

Meal 1:

Over Easy Eggs with Chili & Onions

Meal 2:

Q'Doba - Chicken w/Pico & Guacamole

Meal 3:

Mexican Fiesta - Steak Milanese

Now, I know this is not 100% Whole30 approved, but this round is not as super strict as the first so I'm not kicking myself for having a little bit of cornmeal breading. Also, it was delicious!

I won't be referring to this round as Whole30 anymore just so I don't mislead anyone that might stumble onto my blog. :)

Whole30 Take 2 - Day 3

I'm beginning to realize that one of my major motivators for getting healthier is to be able to back up my mouth when I get to talking about proper fitness and nutrition. I overhear the most ridiculous theories throughout my days in the office that I want to stand up and say, "that's terrible for you" or "that's just not at all true," but who will take me seriously as the butterball shaped lady wagging her underarm flaps around exclaiming things like "you can't outrun your fork," "saturated fat is NOT bad for you," and "grown people don't need milk"?

I have news for all you skinny people... or at least those of you who have had very little trouble being skinny most of your lives... Us chubby chicks know more about diet and fitness than you. I have been doing research and trying every diet/fitness plan/pill under the sun. Point is, you can know a thing or two about nutrition whether or not your thighs jiggle when you walk.

Meal 1:

Turkey, Onion & Dried Cherry Rumble

Monkey Salad

Meal 2:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps (shredded chicken, chopped grapes, almond butter, onion sooooo good!)

Meal 3:

Braised Beef w/Mashed Sweet Potato & Green Beans

Since meals 1 and 2 will be pretty much the same week by week; I'm really glad I went with more variety with my dinners this time. 

Also, Happy Halloween ya'll!!!

Whole30 Take 2 - Day 1

Good Evening!

Today begins my second round of the Whole30.

This time:
1. I have read "It Starts With Food" in it's entirety.
2. I am eating three meals a day, rather than two (skipped breakfast last time)
3. I added one day (because Thanksgiving is two days after the 30th day)
4. I (think) I have a Whole30 work buddy starting next week.
5. I am blogging everyday and taking photos of each meal, but I'm not sure yet if I am going to annoy my Facebook friends/family with a daily "look at me, look at ME!" post.
6. I am limiting dried fruit and my fruit and nut bars (Larabars) because the book taught me that the brain doesn't know the difference between healthy sweet and processed, white sugar, garbage sweet.
7. I'm going to add supplements. I wasn't prepared for this one to start today, but I didn't want to delay getting this party started, so I'll add them in later. (Fish Oil, Magnesium Citrate, Vitamin D3, digestive enzymes)
8. I'm going to try not drinking anything while eating. I didn't know this was bad for digestion... Though I don't really have a problem with things working the way they should, I do wonder how much better I could feel if I wasn't watering down my digestive acids and whatnot.

So, these things in mind, I embark on another 30 (plus one) days of whole, clean eating...
Go? Yes, GO!

Meal One:

Roast Beef, Peppers & Onion Scramble

Monkey Salad

Black coffee (after eating, of course)

Meal Two:
Salt & Pepper Chicken with Spiced Mashed Cauliflower

I forgot the pic, but it was all brown and mushy anyway. :)

Meal Three:

I did not succeed in eating according to plan last night. Perhaps the first day of a woman's monthly... uh... cycle... is not the best day to give up salty and sweet?
I was going to have Chicken Soup with Onions & Carrots and a small tossed salad with red wine vinegar and oil dressing. I actually had a Wendy's cheeseburger, French fries, and a Frosty.

How could I take a picture? I don't want to document my SHAME! J/k. I don't feel too icky physically and I don't feel bad emotionally either. So I caved? Now it's a Whole30 after all!

I'm hopeful that the intensity of the detox effects won't be as severe this time around, since I just had the hardcore awful migraine, mood swings, lethargy, and overall malaise to the max during the first half last time... Also hope the chocolatey goodness of the Frosty with fries dipped in won't add to the effects too badly. Cramps are bad enough! :)

Whole30 Take 2 - Day 2

Meal 1:

Let me tell you something about omelets... or is it something about lettuce?

Either way, it is a magical combination that most wouldn't think would be delicious, but it IS!

I saw a recipe for a BLT omelet and decided to put one together myself.

I had gotten Whole30 approved bacon from U.S. Wellness Meats and made my mayonnaise from scratch the night before (using light olive oil, of course). The result was this lovely right here:

BLT Omelet

As usual, I had my fruit and nuts when I got to work:

Orange and Hazelnuts

Meal 2:

Beef Stew w/Mashed Cauliflower

Meal 3:

Chocolate Chili topped with Avocado, Onion and Olives

The workday was long and tiresome. Afterward I went to my grandma's to help her with some paperwork. Coming home to a nice hot bowl of chili was a perfect way to wind down.

Whole30 Take 2 - Day 1 Again

2nd attempt at Day 1 was a success!

Meal 1:

Chicken & Salsa Frittata

Pears & Almond Slivers

Meal 2:

Asian Chicken Salad w/cashews, golden raisins, green onion, and carrots & a super good homemade apple cider vinaigrette.

Meal 3:

Shish Tawook Carry Out - House Salad w/Chicken

Work was crappy and the stress, combined with a huge headache and cramps, made me want candy and chips so bad!!! I didn't cave in though... I made it!

On to Day 2!!!

Getting Fired Up!

Do you want to know how many times I said "I wish I hadn't eaten that?" during my first Whole30?
ZERO!
Do you want to know how many times I have said it during my month off?
Oh my gord, I don't even know...
Of course, something like this wasn't really noticeable to me before; since I didn't know that feeling like a pile of crud after eating was not normal... or, actually was a problem... like, the root of all my ills...

I got off track way too fast when I finished with the reintroduction protocol. I have been asked why I'm doing this again, and that is the big reason why... Like I have said before, the weight loss is wonderful, but it is the secondary purpose for eating clean. Not getting heartburn, gas, headaches, bloating, mood swings, and inflamed tissue that aggravates my back problems are my priority number one.

During dairy... I got a super phlegmy throat and... well... a lady doesn't speak of such things.


During gluten grains, I learned I get a euphoric kind of high feeling and then a sudden desire to sleep and the inevitable crash within hours of eating the stuff.


During non-gluten grains... The most noticeable effect was that I bloated up like the stay-puft marshmallow man and my socks made grooves in my ankles.


During legumes... well, I never made it to legumes... I ate a bag of chips and lost it instead... and by lost it, I mean that literally



I'm attributing the success of sticking with  the Paleo life, during my first Whole30, to the countdown and accountability of the time frame...

Yeah, I might need to keep re-upping to a new set every time. Yeah, I might do a Whole30 every month... Whatever it takes to break this roller coaster is what I have to do.

I am hopeful for a day where one piece of cake won't undo my new attitude toward food. I know it will happen, no matter how long I have to stick to a Whole way of eating.

Whole Again

I've decided to go hardcore Paleo again for 31 days leading up to Thanksgiving starting on Monday October 28th. I honestly feel like I shouldn't have stopped, I wasn't ready yet. My brain was not reprogrammed enough. I ate McDonald's ya'll... McDonald's!

Also, I like the countdown and accountability I had when I was blogging my journey through my first Whole 30 about a month ago and would like to get the momentum going again with another burst of clean eating energy right before the holiday chow fest begins.

I picked 31 days this time because I like starting things on Mondays, and I might as well keep it going one extra day since Day 30 would be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

I finally finished reading It Starts with Food and realized I missed a few things like skipping Balsamic vinegar because of the nitrates (duh!), snacking should be rare; if at all, dried fruit could be as bad as candy in terms of "brain wants sweet, brain gets sweet" scenarios, and that Dallas & Melissa Hartwig say breakfast is a must. I'll try it your way Hartwigs!

I got a bunch of new recipes for this round from sites like Nom Nom Paleo, The Clothes Make the Girl, and Stupid Easy Paleo.

I also stole a wondrous recipe for this treat called Monkey Salad from Good Cheap Eats. The BEST mid-morning, "ohmygodicannotwaitforlunchoriamgoingtoeatmyhand" snack in the entire world. It's a fact!

So, from now until Monday I will be shopping, prepping, cooking, and freezing as many whole, clean, delicious meals as I can so I am ready to go! Also, this time, I've got coconut flakes, coconut butter, coconut oil, MORE ghee, sugar free grass fed bacon and lard to cook with so I am super stoked to try out the new flavors.

The plan is in place. The menu is set. I've got the tools and know how to use them so bring it on October 28th. I'm ready for ya!

FYI, I'm not spending the time before this to go hog wild and indulge bad habits. I don't want that monster headache to happen again. I'm just kind of doing my best to stick to the good things I know with the occasional lame excuse for Frito's... There's no excuse for Frito's... :)

This post is so linkeriffic because last time I got a lot of requests for info. Now you can click the link and be in the know!

Just to Remember

Just for my own benefit, it is hard to stay on track right now. I want to eat constantly and lack of olanning last week made getting back in the game this week that much harder. I need fruit! Two weeks off Whole30 and I forgot how to shop, jk.

I didn't do legume days yet... Because I thought testing potato chips would be more fun... Thanks to either the oil the chips were fried in or something wonky in the nitrate free hotdogs I had with them, I lost my dinner. I will try legumes out on Thursday.

That's it. Just needed to write it to see if seeing my struggling time in text will help kick my butt back in gear.

Whole Plus Gluten Free

I gotta say, I never thought this would be the case. I never saw this coming. 

Yesterday I had 3 servings of grains not containing gluten. Rice with breakfast, more rice with lunch, and corn with dinner... It was awful! I noticeably swelled up. Ankles turned into cankles and my jelly roll was an inner tube. I also felt groggy and lethargic and just plain kuh-kuh...

I thought rice would be the least aggravating of all of these groups, but it has been the worst thus far. 

Saturday is legume day and I, honestly, fear the reaction I may have. Ah well, soon the trials will be over and I will be free to decide if and when I will choose to indulge. My plan is, not very often.

I was feeling so good and just melting away. I wish I had skipped this part and just kept on going to Whole60, 90, 120, infinity... 

I'll post one more Whole30 related post on Saturday night. Then it'd back to random musings and the occasional health update. :)

If you often feel puffy, try cutting out rice. You could be super glad you did! 

Whole Plus Gluten

No need to explain how I feel the day after I ate grains containing gluten for the first time in over a month. Actually my body feels fine. I seem to have snapped right back into optimal efficiency. I did feel a bit yucky last night; a little lethargic and crabby. This morning I woke up feeling physically fine, but craving more. Perhaps this is because I ate a bit more than three servings in the form of a biscuit, pretzels, and pita bread. Either way, I can identify gluten containing foods as a trigger if not an aggitator. Triggering over consumption is just as dangerous a health risk as intestinal problems so I will have to limit gluten grains to the very rare occasions like birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. "Someone Brought Donuts Day" does not count as a holiday. :)

Whole Plus Dairy

Today was Dairy Day.

For those not familiar with the "reintroduction protocol":

Thanks to Paige, I get the gist that...

I maintain my Whole30 compliance and add three servings of dairy today and return to eating as I have for the Whole30 while documenting how I feel over the next three days then...

I maintain my Whole30 compliance and add three servings of grain containing gluten and return to eating as I have for the Whole30 while documenting how I feel over the following three days then...

I maintain my Whole30 compliance and add three servings of grain not containing gluten and return to eating as I have for the Whole30 while documenting how I feel over the following three days then...

I maintain my Whole30 compliance and add three servings of beans/legumes and  return to eating as I have for the Whole30 while documenting how I feel over the following three days then...

Then I am free to balance eating whole and clean with the occasional holiday overload or birthday pizza party without falling back into a bad habit ritual always giving my body time between the very occasional indulgence to heal and reset. 

That said:

I had creamer in my coffee today and felt jittery and weird

I ate a Chipotle chicken salad with pico, sour cream, cheese and guacamole for lunch and got phlegmy and a bit bloaty:

I ate a Greek Salad with Ranch dressing for dinner. More phlegmy, more bloaty

I'll check in again in a few days when it's time for bread! :)

Whole Life

It's the dawn of a new life for me. I am changed mentally and physically.

How much have I changed physically?

Oh, just 16.6 Lbs & 7.5 Inches!!!

Mentally, I'm not obsessed with old cravings. I don't lose control and eat more than I planned of anything. I can smell French fries and not freak out that I "can't have" them. I haven't missed ranch dressing yet, though I will probably have some tonight. Weight loss aside, this challenge has broken my bad food habits and has completely rewired my hunger trigger system. I can't express enough how grateful I am for finding out about this (thanks again Paige!) and for the book that explains the mechanics of it all, "It Starts With Food..."

If you're thinking of doing this, do it! Do it now! Don't hold off on never having to say "I try so hard to eat right, but I can't lose weight" or "I'm always tired" or "I'm not even hungry but I ate a whole bag of ___"

Now!!! :)

I am going to document my process of evaluating how certain foods effect me, even if for my own recollection, over the course of the next couple weeks. This will only be every few days or so, rather than eatery stinkin' day!

Today is Dairy. 

I will post the details later. :)

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 26

Today was busy! Ikea, first viewing service for my grandpa, season opening of SNL...

I got my day started with some eggs, onions, and prosciutto.

Way too much prosciutto learned the hard way. Sadly, I ended up tossing about half of the topping because it was just too rich. The banana in the picture was fantastic though. Not many people know, but the flavor of bananas are perfect when the skin just starts to get brown spots. So sweet, but not yet mushy. I can't stand them when the skin is too yellow still. :)

Grabbed a small side salad from Wendy's for lunch and added some leftover chicken. Same ol', same ol'... Kinda gettin' antsy to add more variety to my diet.

There were a lot of tears today and sad faces and that was just at Ikea. Seriously though, I know dealing with the death of a friend or relative is an awkward time for everyone. It's just kind weird, because people have been dying since forever. You'd think we'd be used to it by now. 

Logic tells me he is free from pain and struggle, but my heart just misses him so much. No matter the fact that I did see him quite a bit and that he was a constant presence in my life, I just wish I had spent more time, had more birthdays, holidays, parties. I wish I could dance with him at my wedding. 

On to brighter things, 30 - 26 = 4

Four days remain until I begin the "reintroduction protocol"!!! Sounds all technical, but just means I take a few days to add things back one at a time to see if they are a part of my issues. Once completed, I will be on my way to an 80/20 paleo life. :)

On to Day 27

Whole30 Day 25

Wow. I would have posted this yesterday, but I was so sick I forgot to even eat dinner.

Again, there are no photos because of being sick and who wants to see a photo of cut up, nitrate free, hotdogs? 

I'm feeling a lot better this morning and will have a better post later today. By the way, FIVE DAYS LEFT!!! WOO HOO!!!

Whole30 Day 24

Stayed home sick today. It's a full blown sinus/cough nightmare. A lot was accomplished since I could monitor work stuff while working on the photo boards for my Grandpa's funeral.

They came out pretty good:

Being that I am sick, I made sure to take care if my nutrition even though I felt like eating was the last thing I wanted to do.

I just had some tuna and some cashews and Bryan brought me a salad and chicken. No pics of food, sorry.

I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow so I can get back to a little normalcy before the weekend ahead commences. Saturday and Sunday are viewings and Monday is the funeral. 

On the Whole30 front, all is well. I do have to complain that there are no cough syrups without corn syrup or sucralose. I'm hoping Benadryl is ok since I have to have something to knocke out in order to sleep. Of course I'd get sick with less than a week left.

Anywho, 6 more days. On to day 25

Whole30 Day 23

Day 23 is a sad day.

My grandpa passed away. I can't put thoughts together. I'll be spending the next couple days making a photo collage for the viewings and funeral.

On top of this, I am coming down with, what seems to be, a nasty cold.

In spite if mourning and illness, I have stuck to my Whole30 guns. Though I really feel like a shot or 12 of Jameson is completely appropriate.

Anyway, lunch was turkey kielbasa withered cabbage sautéed in ghee.

Dinner was chicken salad made with chopped celery, golden raisins, and garlic aioli on a bed of romaine.

All the food I ate tasted great. 

On to tomorrow and one week remaining.

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!