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!!

Day 1, whole30 round 3

most people started their january whole30 yesterday -- we chose to wait one more day and started ours today.  my husband got up and did his exercises and walk.  i did not.  he said he even tried to wake me up by shaking my foot, but i felt nothing!! i must have been really tired.  when i did finally get up, i just felt off, and have felt like that all day.  i am not really sure why.  i did ok with my eating, but i just feel very uncomfortable.  thankfully my husband fixed most of the dinner, so all i had to do was make a salad and cut up some veggies and fruit.  we are doing something a bit different this time -- in our past whole30 months, we made some extra non paleo side dishes for our kids. this time, we will not be doing that so much, as we want to see if our 13 year old son will benefit from further changes to his diet.  he has been a good sport about things as we have changed our diet over the past 2 years, but he has stubbornly resisted some facets of paleo eating.  for this round, he has agreed to give up sweets and grains, which is huge for him.  his sweet tooth is worse than mine. i have let him keep his daily glass of chocolate milk and since he doesn't like eggs he will also get to eat waffles for breakfast, but i make them from my own grain free recipe. thankfully he likes meat and chicken and fruits and veggies, so my main challenge will be keeping him full.  at 13, he is growing and eating like crazy!

so, for my eating today, i had an aidell's chicken apple sausage (whole30 compliant with no sugar and no preservatives added) and a banana for breakfast.  for lunch i had a couple of hard boiled eggs and an orange.  for my afternoon snack i ate a little more than an ounce of dry roasted almonds and some dried cranberries (no sugar added).  for dinner i ate 2 roasted chicken thighs (roasted with the skin on but i took the skin off before i ate them), some roasted vegetables, salad and an apple.  my total calories came to 1490, with 44% of calories from fat, 22% from protein and 35% from carbs.  i also exceeded my daily fiber goal -- daily goal is 25 grams of fiber, and today i took in 28.6 grams.  my only exercise came from grocery shopping and climbing stairs.  tomorrow will be different -- i hope!!

HERE is nom nom paleo's post of the day -- today she shows us how to make homemade mayonnaise.  i have not tried it yet, but i need to because my husband likes salad dressing, and most commercially made dressings have non-compliant ingredients in them.

it is time for bed now -- i hope i feel better tomorrow!!

How did THAT happen?

so we are into our third week post whole30 challenge.  i have been watching my progress on the scale, and while there have been some ups and downs, it appears i have lost another 5 lbs so far during the month of may, for a total weight loss since january 1, 2011 of 48 lbs.  HOLY MAMA!!!  i was really surprised when i stepped on the scale this morning. i have been eating plenty of food (seriously -- you can trust me on that one!).  I have eaten some sugar (72% dark chocolate, a little ketchup, a little sugar on some strawberries) and some dairy (cheddar cheese, HOT COCOA!!!!), but not every day.  i have continued to avoid wheat and grains (mostly because there hasn't been anything that i wanted to risk feeling yucky for.  when there is something that is worth it, then we will see what happens.) 

i have not been keeping track of my calories, but i have tried to keep exercising consistently.  most days i try to do both light weights and walking, but some days it is just one or the other (like today -- i just had time for a light leg workout). today i also did 30 sit ups!!! whoooo hooo!!!

the main problem i have had is with drinking water.  i don't like plain water.  this has always been an issue for me.  i don't like the texture of water.  does anyone else think water has a texture?  to me, any water won't work. different brands of bottled waters have different characteristics, and i have my preferences.  the filtered water we get from our refrigerator is pretty good.  living in the pacific northwest, we are very lucky to have high quality water to drink, so i really don't have any excuse to buy bottled water, do i?  i do keep water with me all the time, but i just don't drink it all.  i am also taking a prescribed diuretic, so if i drink too much water, well, you know what happens!

i am still eating protein at every meal.  here is what i had for dinner last night -- grass fed ground beef  seasoned with mexican seasonings, topped with mashed avocado and salsa, and accompanied by a green salad that included tomatoes and cucumbers.  it was yummy, but i ate too much too late in the evening and for the first time in a long time i had take some tums.

  
here is another recipe for you.  if you are like my husband and i, we like eggs, and we eat them for breakfast almost every morning, but sometimes a little variety is nice.  this recipe is for homemade breakfast sausage, and it comes from the "paleo comfort foods" cookbook, by julie and charles mayfield.  i have made this sausage and it was really good.  what i like best is that you can tailor the seasonings to suit your family's tastes.

  homemade breakfast sausage

1 lb ground pork
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped*
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped**
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped***
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Take ground pork and mix with all the ingredients.  Form into 2-inch-wide patties.  Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Place sausage patties in skillet and cook until browned, then flip over and continue cooking until sausage is fully cooked through. 

i wanted a large amount of sausage so i used 1 lb of ground pork and 2 lbs of ground turkey.  i then tripled the seasonings to accommodate the larger amount of protein.  i also browned the sausage in a little olive oil in the skillet. 

* fresh sage is great if you have it, but if not, use approximately 1 tsp dried sage.  ** again, fresh is great but if you use dried, just use half the stated amount, so 1/2 tsp of dried thyme.  ***ditto the fresh, if you use dried use 1/8 tsp of dried rosemary.

after eating this sausage, my husband suggested that i include some fennel seed in the next batch.  i haven't made it again (yet) but when i do, i will add about 1/2 tsp dried fennel seed to 3 lbs of protein. 

enjoy!!

whole30 challenge, day 31 -- wait, what?!!!

ha ha -- fooled you! you thought the whole30 challenge was over,didn't you?  so did i.  today just didn't present much of an opportunity to eat something different.  i was very busy with my part time job, and only had the time to eat the veggies and fruit i brought -- in my car -- on my way home.  when i finally got home i was able to eat some more protein.  while helping my husband fix dinner, we talked about our experiences over the last month.  we both agreed that we like how we feel. we are amazed that our cravings have diminished so dramatically.  we both lost weight. even though eating the same thing over and over again during the month got a little monotonous, we both agreed that we do really like the food we have been eating.  we are even maybe a bit scared to reintroduce some of the food we were eating before we started the challenge.  for example, wheat will not purposely be on the menu for us anytime soon.  i won't be jumping back into dairy with both feet either.  cheese will come back occasionally, as will butter, but my daily chocolate milk probably should morph into a saturday hot cocoa treat. bacon on weekends will return (hooray!!) as will my own waffle recipe. (but i will eat only a half of a waffle, and i will eat it with almond butter, not butter and syrup.)  right now it is wheat free, but i have been using spelt flour, which has a higher protein content and is lower in gluten than wheat.  i will be working to tweak it to get rid of the spelt, and when i do i will post the recipe.

so -- about my weight loss . . . drumroll please . . . . . . . in the month of april, i lost a total of 11 lbs!!!! that is the most i have ever lost in one month!  i also lost a total of 8 inches from all over my body.  i feel like i have to put in a disclaimer though.  in november of 2011, i had reached my lowest weight to that point, for a total weight loss of 40 lbs.  then between november and the end of march, i gained 8 lbs. i was still eating lots of veggies, good fat and protein.  i had quit soda pop and most wheat products, but i had stopped counting calories, and i indulged my sugar cravings far too frequently.  so, my total weight loss between january of 2011 and may 1, 2012 is 43 lbs.

that is the reason i decided to do the challenge.  i wanted to see if i could get rid of my cravings, and i feel hopeful that i can make better choices now. i know sugar is very addictive for me, so i feel like i need to be very careful about eating it now. 

here i am in february 2011, one month after my husband and i first started our weight loss journey.

here i am a week ago, after 3 weeks on the whole30 challenge (ignore the unmade bed in the background!):

still a work in progress, but i am determined to lose the rest of the weight -- looking at at least 20 more lbs. 
i am also contemplating doing the whole30 challenge again later this year -- now that i know i can do it!


thanks for reading and commenting.  i appreciate your support!

whole30 challenge, day 24 -- 20 Sit Ups!!!!!

so, six more days to go on the whole30 challenge.  it has been an interesting month.  i will say that i am feeling good.  no heartburn, my energy level has gotten better, and today i did 20 sit ups!!! by myself! for not being able to do any at the beginning of the month, that is a huge accomplishment.  i am proud of myself!  i still don't like getting up at 5 am to exercise, i miss chocolate, and i am looking forward to the end of the challenge so our food repertoire can increase a bit.  i do not plan on going back to drinking hot cocoa every day -- i will save it for saturdays, and maybe one other time during the week.  i will not be eating wheat very often -- there are lots of recipes out there for baking that use alternatives like coconut flour and almond meal.  i had started using quinoa flour in my baking as well, but it looks like i need to do further research on that.  some paleo sources say quinoa is not as good for you as the industry would have you believe.  i don't know.  i will do some more reading and will let you know what i find.  and BACON!! it will be our weekend treat once again!!

my eating today was good.  i came in at just under 1600 calories -- 1589 to be exact.  my hunger was kept at bay, and i am thankful for that. for breakfast i had one egg scrambled with an egg white, a large chicken sausage, some leftover veggies and an orange.  it was a lot, so i spread it out over approximately 30 minutes.  for lunch i had a large chicken breast seasoned with cumin, cilantro, chili powder, garlic and basil.  i sliced it into strips and dipped the strips into some homemade guacamole.  yummy!!!  i also had a whole cucumber, some grape tomatoes and about a cup of cantaloupe chunks.  dinner was a baked chicken thigh, some kale sauteed with onions, and an apple.  my total protein intake was 31% of my calories (119 grams), fat came in at 43% (76.2 grams) and carbs totaled 26% (113.7 grams) of my calories for the day.  i also ate 26.3 grams of fiber.  i seem to feel best when my protein intake is more than my carb intake.  that should not be a surprise, but for someone who has lived on mostly carbs for her entire life, the concept is life altering.  i was also happy that my fat intake was less than 50% and that i got my quota of fiber for the day.

for exercise today, i worked on my arms. i did several reps of bicep curls and side arm lifts, both while holding 5 lb weights. next month i am going to try 10 lb weights (i think . . .). i then used a 15 lb weight, held it in both hands, laid down on my back and did a sort of modified bench press (at least that is what i was trying to do!).  i sat up and still using the 15 lb weight, i did a kind of pull down behind my head (again, i can only work with what i have!! lol!)  i also did 10 one armed push ups on each arm (while laying on my side. i haven't tried regular push ups yet.), some arm circles and leg lifts, and for the grand finale, i did 2 sets of 10 sit ups, for a total of 20. my husband and i took our walk in the evening after work, but before dinner.

i ordered some of the books i had originally checked out from the library.  when i get them i will start posting recipes.  i plan on continuing this blog, and will post on some topics relating to memories and scrapbooking as well as on our journey on the paleo path. 

as 5 am comes very early, i will sign off now.  i thank you for reading. 

whole30 challenge, day 21 -- wishing for some comfort

i checked the "paleo comfort foods" cookbook by julie and charles mayfield out from the library, and found some really great recipes.  i had to return it today (it was really overdue) but i am going to purchase it because it has lots of ideas that fit with the way we eat.  not just paleo eating, but the kind of stuff we like all the time.  for example, i have been searching and searching for a breakfast sausage that we liked and was paleo (meaning no sugar or preservatives among other things) and have just been coming up short every time.  this cookbook has a recipe for a homemade breakfast sausage, and i made it recently and it was really good.  i liked that i could tweak it for our own taste.  i used 2 lbs of ground turkey and 1 lb of ground pork, and seasoned it with the likes of sage, basil, salt, pepper, chili powder, a bit of cayenne pepper, and some others that i cannot remember.  my husband suggested for the next batch that i add fennel seed, which i plan on doing.  when this cookbook comes in, i will be posting the recipe.  if you can't wait, you can see if your local library has it for you to check out.  it also has recipes for tortillas made with coconut flour, a paleo bbq sauce and ketchup, paleo chili (no beans!) spiced mixed nuts, and lots of other yummy dishes.  eating paleo is not boring, but sometimes i just wish some of those "comfort foods" that i relied on for so long were still available.  with this cookbook, some of those dishes seem within reach while still being healthy.

on thursday, day 19, i did my exercise and walk in the early evening before dinner.  i didn't keep track of my meals, but it was pretty much the same as almost every other day -- eggs, veggies, fruit and chicken.

for friday, day 20, i did my exercises (arm day) in the morning and went on my walk with my husband -- in the rain. got soaked, but at least it was warm!  for breakfast i had two eggs and an egg white scrambled with some veggies, and an orange.  then i was so sleepy i took a nap!!  didn't really have lunch, just snacked on some almonds, cut up raw veggies and an apple.  for dinner we had chuck roast in the crock pot, veggies and some salad, and some really good cantaloupe.  that night we went to our son's college (also our alma mater) for his jazz band concert.  he plays the string bass and bass guitar, and he absolutely rocked it.  he has become a very talented musician, and we are very proud of him.

today, day 21 -- for breakfast i had a link of chicken/apple sausage (purchased from costco and legal for the whole30 challenge) along with a couple of eggs and an egg white scrambled, and some pineapple. the pineapple was really, really sweet.  i think my taste buds have definitely become more sensitive over the past month.  since my breakfast was late i just had some almonds and an apple for lunch, then later i just had an orange.  for dinner i had oven baked chicken (a thigh and a leg) and some roasted veggies. my total calories for the day came to just over 1600 (too much!).  fat totaled 50% of calories (91.5 grams), protein came to 22% (88.6 grams) and carbs totaled 28% percent of calories (121.6 grams).  in there was approximately 21.3 grams of fiber. i do think the past couple of days i have had too much fruit -- tomorrow i will have to scale back a bit.  i have lost weight, and i want to keep that momentum going.  too much fruit will raise my blood sugar, which will in turn raise my insulin levels, which will then make it harder for me to lose weight.  alas, i did no exercise today -- i did keep busy, but i will be back to the exercising tomorrow.

on to tomorrow -- goodnight all! off to the comfort of my bed!