Whole30 #3 -- FINISHED!

so we finished our 3rd whole30 last thursday.  to celebrate, we went out to dinner! still ate paleo, though.  steak, salad, steamed veggies.  it was good, and was such a relief to both my husband and i that we didn't have to cook!  as good as the whole30 is, and as good as we feel, by the end of the month, we both are just plain tired of cooking!  we had good results this time. we both had gained an insane amount of weight in december. my daughter is a pastry chef (all traditionally prepared), and she was doing cookie boxes for sale.  i ate my share of "oops" cookies, and i made some of my traditional Christmas goodies as well, but  i didn't realize how much i had pigged out until i got on the scale on day one of the whole30 and found that i had gained a total of 9 pounds. in only ONE month.  my husband had gained 7 pounds.  i really wasn't feeling that great, and i couldn't button some of the jeans i had worn just a month before. my stomach was really bloated and i was having digestion issues again.  BOO! but totally my own doing.  so no more wheat, no dairy, etc.  the first 10 days or so, i had a few headaches, was really tired and kind of depressed feeling.  as i finished the second week and headed into the third, i was feeling a lot better, my bloating was pretty much gone, and so were the digestion problems.  i did cheat a bit in the form of weighing myself occasionally during the month.  you are not supposed to weigh yourself during a whole30 because the focus is supposed to be on getting healthy, not losing weight, but this time i WAS focused on losing weight and i wanted to see if it was happening.  every time i weighed myself, i was down a pound or two, and on january 31 when i weighed myself, i found i had lost ALL of the holiday weight!! i was down a total of 9 pounds!! i was very happy about that.  all my jeans fit again, and i am very pleased with the results. my husband also lost all of his holiday weight.

with the superbowl coming up, we both gave ourselves permission to indulge a little.  i was very careful though to not have any wheat, and i made a batch of paleo brownies and a paleo/vegan broccoli salad.
i will post the brownie recipe in a future post, but here is the recipe for the broccoli salad.  i was surprised at how good it is when i had it for the first time.  it looks like it has a mayonnaise based dressing, and i don't really like mayo that much. when i took my first bite, i was shocked that it didn't taste like mayo at all.  it was rather sweet, and when i asked the person who made it what was in it, she said the dressing was made from soaked and pureed cashews!  i will give the ingredients as they are written in the recipe, and then i will add notes about how i have changed it a bit.

                                           photo credit:
                                    http://www.eatingbirdfood.com

                           Broccoli Raisin Sunflower Seed Salad

       Dressing:

• 1 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours, up to overnight
• juice from 1 1/2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 shallot (2 tablespoons chopped)
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• pinch sea salt

      Drain cashews, discard liquid. Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor.  Mix until very
      smooth.

      Salad:

• 6 cups raw, chopped broccoli
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sunflower seeds 

       Mix together chopped broccoli, chopped onion, raisins and sunflower seeds.  Top with dressing and
       combine until all ingredients are well coated.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

      My notes:

1.  i used the juice of only 1 lemon.  my preference.
2. instead of water, i substituted  pineapple juice  it gives a bit more sweetness and goes really well with the flavors of the salad.
3. i did not use chopped shallots or garlic. again, my personal preference.  the chopped red onion in the salad itself is enough onion flavor for my family and i. 
4. i don't use agave. i use either coconut nectar or honey. if you use honey, this salad will not be vegan.
5. i use dried, unsweetened cranberries instead of raisins.  really, really good!
6. i substituted raw, unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for the sunflower seeds. again, i just like it that way!
7. you can chop the broccoli and the red onion in the food processor to make it easier.  i buy trader joe's raw, organic broccoli florets.  don't use broccoli that has been frozen and thawed.
8. i chop my broccoli quite a bit smaller than shown in the photo above; i just didn't have another picture to show.  her recipe is very similar to this one, however.

if there doesn't seem to be enough dressing to coat all the ingredients, just add a bit more water or pineapple juice until everything is well coated.

 enjoy!!!

 

    

Whole30, Day 27 -- one goal reached!

So it's day 27 of this round's whole30 challenge.  things are going pretty much as they did before -- i feel good.   i am sleeping better.  not a whole lot more energy, but that is just me.  and the biggie -- i have lost weight!  according to the rules of the whole30 challenge, participants are not supposed to weigh themselves during the month, but i cheated.  i wanted to see if i had lost any of the weight i gained over the holidays, so i have weighed myself a couple of times this month.  the good news -- as of today i have lost ALL the weight i gained over the holidays!!! i had gained -- gasp!-- 9 pounds and they are now gone!!!!!! not bad i think, but it would have been better if i had not gained weight at all!! i have worked too hard to go back to where i was, and i have more work ahead of me to reach my final goal weight.

i want to say that i am so proud of my 13 year old son, who has been doing the challenge with my husband and i.  with the exception of butter, chocolate milk, his grain free breakfast waffles with maple syrup and a bit of rice during the month, he has done just about everything else according to plan.  he has been taking his lunch to school, and likes it.  he also is eating almonds for a snack, something i couldn't get him to do before.  he has also grown almost an inch during the month.  he is also calmer and less argumentative.  being that he is 13, however, i don't expect that to last! lol!!  anyway, he has done great, and we will be easing some of his restrictions a bit when the month is over.  i have told him i want him to stay away from wheat as much as possible, but i will let him have school lunch pizza once a week.  i know it is not great for him, but it is one thing i am willing to give on a little.

so, there is the update.  i will leave you with a photo of what we had for dinner tonight -- surf and turf! grass fed new york steak, steamer clams in a broth of clam juice, chicken stock and carmelized onions with garlic, sauteed scallops and mixed roasted veggies (broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and  turnips). it was yummy!!

Here We Go Again . . .

so, it has been a couple of weeks since my last post.  in that amount of time i have pretty much stayed away from wheat and i have not had any soda pop.  i did make waffles using a bit (about a 1/2 cup) of spelt flour, and last weekend i made chocolate chip cookies using a cup of white wheat flour (the rest was coconut flour).  i was asked not to make them that way again!  over the past couple of weekends i  also had my beloved homemade hot cocoa, with whole milk AND whipped cream.  it was heavenly!   i have also indulged my craving for chocolate -- not just dark chocolate, but specifically M & M's. then last night, we went out to dinner at a favorite restaurant that we had not been to in years.   we had cheese fondue with chunks of bread and sausage.  for my entree, i had chicken jagerschnitzel (chicken breast that has been pounded thin and then breaded and sauteed.) with mashed potatoes and a sourdough roll. for dessert i had a bowl of sweetened strawberries with whipped cream.  over the past two weeks i did not keep track of calories, and my activity level has dropped.  i am still exercising and walking, but my seasonal part time job is done until august, and it is a very physical job that keeps me moving and standing most of the day.

as you can probably imagine, i am now seeing the consequences of my choices.  my stomach was unsettled a for a few days earlier this week.  i have been extra sleepy.  my hands are puffy and my tummy is bloated. and after last night's dinner, i could not sleep in bed -- i had to sleep sitting up on the couch because i was so full.  i was popping tums all evening.  the worst consequence of all is i have gained 8 lbs.  in 2 weeks.  in the month of april i lost a total of 11 lbs.  then i lost an additional 5 lbs at the beginning of may.  in the last 2 weeks, i have gained 8 lbs, and that is with skipping lunch now and then because i wasn't hungry.  i am upset that my sugar cravings came back. thankfully, i am still down a full 8 lbs. from where i started on apirl 1st, so i feel good about that.

what does this experience tell me?  first, i CANNOT be trusted around sweets!!!  not even 72% dark chocolate.  also, i am one of those people that must stay active to keep the weight off. and even after all this time, i apparently still cannot accurately judge how many calories i am eating without recording them.

so what happens now?  my husband and i have decided to do another 30 days of fairly restricted eating (he also gained weight in may, and he is way more active than me!)  our anniversary is this month, so we are giving ourselves permission to have anything we want for our anniversary dinner.  i will probably allow myself to go ahead and use butter instead of restricting myself to ghee, but other than that, i will again be avoiding dairy, sugar, legumes, wheat and other grains.  i will keep track of my calories most days.  i will increase my exercise.  most importantly, when the month of june is over,  i will NOT be giving myself permission to add unhealthy foods back into my diet.  i made a commitment to myself a year and a half ago that i would get healthy.  i keep saying to people, why would i want to eat any other way when eating paleo makes me feel so good? more than that, i feel WELL.  for so many years i have felt less than well.  eating "clean", eating "paleo", or whatever you want to call it, makes me feel well, and even if that is the only benefit (it's not the only benefit, trust me!) that makes it worthwhile.  i say again, when i can eat healthy protein and fats, all the veggies i want and some fruit, lose weight and not be hungry doing it, why would i NOT want to embrace that lifestyle?

i am not perfect.  i stumble, i make mistakes, i do things that i know better than to do.  and yet, every day is an opportunity to start fresh, to learn from my mistakes, to take one step forward instead of two steps back.  that day for me is today.  starting fresh and giving myself permission to be healthy!