Last Day - Hurray!

Nuff said...

2 Days left...

That's counting today, you know - tomorrow will be the last day of my challenge.

Today for lunch I had tuna salad made with my homemade mayonnaise and it tasted fine....Yay for that!

My larabars bit the dust - literally. I set my husband's lunchbox on top of the pan holding the larabars. When he pulled out his lunchbox, the pan went flying out and the crumbly bars ended up all over the place. They now live within my vacuum. Hmmmm...will have to try this again but need something to bind them together better - perhaps almond butter. I actually tried a little of this last night - crumblies mixed with the almond butter and it was YUM!

And the cruise countdown is.....4 days....

Three Days Left to Go

Made it easily through Thanksgiving however, I have to say that there are some things I would like to have I just don't know how lenient I will allow myself. I don't want to blow this. Can't wait to weigh myself on Thursday morning.

Today's challenge - I googled Homemade Larabars and there are a bunch of recipes to choose from. I chose one for Chocolate Coconut Larabars and it was very easy to make. I put this in the refrigerator to set and will try them tomorrow. Also had a very good roast today that I made in the crockpot. I also tried googling homemade Miracle Whip because I think I just don't like mayonnaise. I might try putting some pineapple juice in my mayo to sweeten it up - maybe that will make it better. If I could conquer this one, then I would be SO happy.

The countdown to my cruise is at 6 days - can't wait.

Thanksgiving on Whole30!

Haven't eaten dinner yet but I think it will be awesome! I'm not cooking the turkey but I'm making sure that there is plenty of Whole30 food available. I made a fruit salad out of honeydew, canteloupe, pineapple, orange and banana; a garden salad with spring greens, iceberg, radishes, black olives, cucumbers and cocktail tomatoes - will top that with some homemade ranch dressing. I also have homemade applesauce and mashed sweet potatoes - add the turkey and I think the feast will be complete.

Banana ice cream later this evening for dessert - have you made this before? One ingredient - frozen bananas in the food processor until it becomes ICE CREAM. So many options for toppings - nuts, pineapple, coconut, coconut oil with dark chocolate cocoa mixed in (this actually hardens on the ice cream and is just like a dip cone).

Started my day running a 5k and finished within my goal time and third place in my Age Group - I will take that any day. That would be 3rd out of 10 women - that makes me feel good. It was a difficult run - nothing but hills.

So let's see - day 24 - 6 days left. Oh, and it's my 22nd wedding anniversary today too!

Slacking on the Journal - But down to Single Digits

Woo hoo only 8 days left to go - but is that the END? This weighs on my mind daily. I certainly don't want this effort to go to waste but there are some things I want to eat. So how do you manage this? First, I'm very interested in seeing what my weight is. I really haven't starved myself BUT if I eat this way and add in forbidden foods I believe any weight loss will go away - don't want that to happen.

Also, the cruise is coming up and I won't be able to tightly control what I eat. My thought is to go with the standard - fill the plate with vegetables, have a salad and some protein and I should be OK. Maybe try to keep sugars to a bare minimum however, I'm looking forward to some real cafe mochas - I will have to be careful with that. I also want to indulge a bit in some alcoholic drinks while on my trip. All this will be OK as long as I get back in control once home.

I don't trust myself either - this scares me. But we shall see.

Day 17 - More than Half Way

Part of me is looking forward to the end of the 30 days and yet, another part of me is uncertain what to do next. Don't get me wrong - this has gone really well. There are some foods that I "miss" but I don't really need to make them a regular part of my diet. But I don't want to slip bac into old habits and eating "convenience" crap foods.

The challenge has really been the ability to plan meals and cook things in advance so as not to be caught with nothing to eat. It is way too easy to just go to Taco Bell or something and grab some food to eat. For the most part, that food just isn't acceptable. Will I have the ability to slide from time to time and pick up where I left off?

The really nice thing is that we will be leaving for our cruise a few days after my Whole30 is over. My experience with cruises is that there is a lot of quality foods being served and one must choose wisely. Most likely the foods will be prepared in a totally non-Whole30 manner, but again, I think it comes down to making quality choices.

What do I want back? An occasional diet soda and/or glass of wine; dark chocolate (this is a definite); still searching for a way to make mayonnaise that I like as well as my three cheese ranch salad dressing; mocha cappuccino. Really, that's about it. I'll look at the Paleo plan and see if that is a good alternative. Maybe even do an alternate between that and Whole30. I know there is a section in the book about what to do next and I'll need to review that.

There's still 13 days to go. I can't say I feel great, because I don't - so not certain there might be something else going on. A physical might be in order. In fact, I would like to see my numbers regarding cholesterol as it tends to be high - perhaps that has changed. I also can't weight to see the scale results. I feel thinner - but not a lot. I would like to see if my fat percentage has significantly changed. I also think I see some more muscle definition. My legs definitely look more toned. I'm really hoping the next 13 days turns the corner and I start seeing an increase in energy levels.

I definitely believe that this is a much healthier way of eating. I really want to retain the majority of what I've learned, but I'm lazy....got to figure out a way to beat that.

Day 14 - Another Kitchen Success!

A year ago or so I tried making spaghetti out of spaghetti squash. It looked really cool and appetizing. I warmed up some canned spaghetti sauce and frozen meatballs. It looked really appetizing - it ended up in the trash. We hated it.

Tonight I made my own spaghetti sauce (Whole30-style) and used organic grass fed ground beef. I had bought a 2lb package a week ago and put it in the freezer. I only needed 1lb for the sauce so I made 4 hamburgers for lunch or dinner later this week. Last night I "spaghettied" the squash and put that in the refrigerator. Tonight I made the sauce, cooked some whole wheat pasta for the husband and microwaved my spaghetti squash. We both used the sauce and it was wonderful! Had a garden salad along with this and it was a great meal. I have leftovers for another meal.

I had a very upset stomach today and I was wondering what might've been the cause. I've been eating very clean and sticking to the Whole30 program. However, I felt a cold coming on and took some Zicam Rapid Melts which likely has sugar or something like that - maybe that was the cause...

Day 13

Busy day - up early for church. Took two strips of bacon, a banana, some grapes and 3 protein balls in a cooler. After church and on my way to swimming, I ate the bacon and the banana. Swam for 45 minutes and headed for home. Ate the protein bites on the way home and put the grapes back in the fridge.

Then an hour later off to run 3 miles with a friend. Her first time out running since her baby was born so it was a slow run. The weather today was phenomenal so we totally enjoyed catching up as we walk/ran. Would've preferred to do a longer run, but just not enough time today.

After my run, I stopped at the produce stand and picked up some tomatoes and a spaghetti squash for tomorrow's dinner. Also got a bag of red delicious apples to make more applesauce.

Then for lunch I had two organic hotdogs and a salad. After lunch, it was off to my granddaughter's volleyball game. Her team won all three games and that was the last one for this season. From there, we went a few miles to watch my grandson play his last soccer game of the season. His team won as well. They both have made such huge improvements since the beginning of the season.

Dinner tonight was leftover porkchop sauteed with a sweet potato, a turnip, some onions and some green pepper. Also had a salad - a very yummy dinner. Had a Larabar as a snack.

Put the spaghetti squash in the oven to make the pasta for tomorrow night. Also need to make more ranch dressing, so doing that now.

17 days to go....

Day 12 - Almost Half Way!

Last night I made homemade applesauce - it is SO good. It was really easy to make and I believe I will take that to my mom's on Thanksgiving. I think everyone will enjoy it.

I can't believe I'm almost half way through this challenge. So often there are times when I just don't know what to eat, yet I find something. In most instances, everything I've tried has been good - with exception of a few things.

My lunch today went well. I had a grilled chicken salad - no cheese or croutons please. It was very good and I had a great visit with my friend. I think we are grilling steaks for dinner - I also pulled out a couple of chicken breasts that I can use for lunches this week.

This morning I had a dark chocolate latte, some eggs and bacon. As always, it was yummy.

Lots to do tomorrow. Church, then swimming, then running with a friend, then volleyball and soccer games to watch.

Made some more mayonnaise last night with the stick blender - it came out just fine. I tried a little taste and it might be better - not sure yet. I hope the taste works for me - then I will have conquered another must have.

Today's big project - not sure how this got started but it was a good result. Cleaned out the cabinet that holds cooking supplies and threw away all the old outdated stuff. I'm ashamed at how old some things were. Then I cleaned out and organized the pantry. Totally sprayed down the counters and appliances in the kitchen - all shiny clean and ready to cook again.

Day 11 and those leading Up

Extremely busy at work this week and at home as well - finally getting around to logging everything or most everything. My husband was out of town for three days and you would think I'd have time to do stuff - I guess I do too much stuff.

Anyway, Wed. night I went to a Computrainer class - it was fun and hard all at the same time. I sweated my ass off. So when I went outside to put my bike on the car rack, I caught a chill. I didn't get home until about 7:00 - I hadn't eaten dinner and was really hungry. But I honestly do not remember what I ate - maybe some bacon and eggs.

Thursday I met my friend after work to do a 4 mile run. I had frozen some crock pot chili that I made a week ago. I had put that in the fridge so we could have it for dinner. I made that and some hot dogs for my husband and I had a sweet potato with the chili on top and some broccoli. That really didn't sound appetizing but it turned out to be really good and satisfying. Breakfasts have been egg muffins (which I need to make more this weekend) and bacon or sausage and zucchini. Lunches have been salads - actually on Wednesday I went to Subway with my son and I had chicken and bacon salad - brought my own dressing. Organic hotdogs have a strange flavor but they are good and I had them Thursday for lunch.

Today's lunch was a salad with a hamburger patty and some canteloupe - had a really good one that was very sweet. I don't know if fruit has been better lately or if I'm just noticing their sweetness more since I don't eat any sugar.

Lots to do this weekend - need to make more mayo (will try again to see if I can get a combination of ingredients that I like), need to make protein bites, egg muffins and right now I'm making some homemade applesauce - the house smells amazing right now. http://www.thesaladgirl.com/2011/01/10/homemade-unsweetened-applesauce-recipe/

So I'm a little over a third of the way through and it seems that I wasn't missing forbidden foods much at all until today - everything I saw looked good. I saw a box of cinnamon donuts at Aldis that looked amazing - I bet I could've knocked down the entire box - and I don't usually eat donuts ever anymore.

I'm thinking about Thanksgiving and how that's going to work for me. My mom is hosting and will be making a turkey breast. I already warned her that I would be bringing my own food beyond the turkey and explained my diet. Her mother was a vegetarian that organically grew most of the foods they ate - we always thought that was so weird and yet here I am basically channeling her. So I'm going to bring some sweet potatoes, a nice big garden salad and a fruit salad. I really want to try to make some ice cream (coconut and pineapple) but haven't found a good recipe yet. I don't have an ice cream maker so I'll have to find something that works without one.

Tomorrow is another lunch challenge - going out with a friend. I will bring my own dressing, make sure they don't put forbidden extras on the salad and opt for a chicken breast. The enjoyment will come from visiting with my friend and not the food.

Day 8 - Turkey Meatloaf

My dinner was so good tonight - ground turkey, 1 egg, onion, shredded carrot and celery. Baked for 45 minutes in a 350 oven. I had sweet potatoes, onions and turnips sauteed in coconut oil until crispy. Loved it.

Got up and ran 4 miles this morning in the rain. We ran pretty slow today. I'm really having a problem running comfortably. I hope this improves soon. I was doing quite well for awhile and then it all fell apart.

Breakfast today was zucchini and apple/chicken sausage cooked in coconut oil, two egg muffins and some pumpkin latte. I had a banana for a snack and lunch was a salad with homemade ranch dressing and some tilapia. I poured some of the ranch dressing over the fish and that was really good. I also had a couple of protein bites and grapes.

Ended the evening with some canteloupe - probably eating too much fruit.

Pretty busy today at work and then came home and did some cleaning. I'm pretty worn out.

Day 7 - One Week into the Challenge

Yesterday I was despairing some but feel better today. My sweet tooth is kicking in a little and I'm missing sugar. Now, keep in mind I've really done without sugar and grains for over 3 weeks - but today I wish I could have something really sweet.

I took the day off today to just have time to myself and here's what happened. My husband had to go out of town (this never happens) and I had to get up at 4:30 AM to take him to the airport. Then, when talking to my mom, I found out she had to take my dad to a surgeon today to have a big mole removed. She didn't know how to get there and was uncertain about the weather. I volunteered to drive them - good deed for the day - 3 and a half hours I won't be getting back. Then, because the entire day was ruined, I took my car to the dealer and got an oil change and emissions testing for my tags. I was able to get this done online- painless.

No lunch today....yes, you heard me right. No lunch because I had to meet my parents at Noon to take them to the doctors. Didn't get home until 3:00 so I missed lunch.

Breakfast was cocoa latte, two fried eggs and bacon - I think that's all I had! Then this afternoon I had an apple and one protein bite. Then I made the sweet potato chews (http://whole9life.com/2010/10/stm-pwo-sweet-potato/) - they seem like a nice diversion - something different to eat. For dinner, I had a salad with my homemade ranch dressing and some of the left over chili. I also ate a banana.

I was able to get in an abs workout from the Insanity DVD today. I had wanted to go do a trail run but it rained too much to do that. Not sure if we will be able to get tomorrow morning's run in or not. They are predicting rain.

I think tomorrow for dinner I'm going to make a meatloaf out of ground turkey. Hope that turns out yummy - it sounds good right now.

Day 6

I'm not even into this one week and there are a couple of things I'm finding difficult to live without - mayonnaise. The homemade looks awesome and tastes horrible. I made some ranch dressing out of it today and it's acceptable but nothing that I would die for...

Got up early for church and took along a banana, some almond butter and 4 protein bites. Ate all but three of the protein bites prior to going to swim. Swam 1500 yards and my chest started to hurt, so called it a day. Ate the remaining protein bites on the drive home.

Lunch today was not very good - I put some canned crab meat on a salad of greens, some olives and chopped egg. Used the avocado dressing - I really didn't like it and threw half of it in the trash. I also tried making a deviled egg out of my mayo - hated it and threw it away. Ate a Larabar for sustenance.

I put chili together in the crockpot for dinner tonight - had that and a salad. Throughout the day I ate some nuts, an apple and some grapes.

A lot of the things I would be eating I cannot because of the mayo issue - no egg salad or tuna salad. I'm making a list of groceries again so that I have plenty of acceptable food in the house. I'm looking forward to having a cocoa latte again tomorrow.

I'm probably eating too many fruits but I'm feeling hungry. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I'll 7 days under my belt.

Day 5 - The Weekend

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 pieces bacon and a cup of Terri's Cocoa Latte - Whole30 style! Ymmmmm.

Had a hair appt in the morning so it was breakfast and then on my way. When I got home I had a banana and some nuts. For lunch, I had 2 organic hotdogs and a salad with tomatoes, olives and homemade avocado dressing. Had a few grapes as a snack and a Larabar.

Dinner was sweet potato, turnip, and green peppers and onions sauteed in coconut oil - I really enjoy this. I also had some leftover turkey breast and a salad, same as lunch but with homemade creamy italian dressing.

I did nothing constructive today...what a waste! It was a beautiful day outside but I ran yesterday - 6 miles and didn't feel like running two days in a row. My ribs are starting to feel better so maybe next week I can get back on a strength training regimine. I'm going to swim tomorrow and see how that feels.

Whole30 - Day 4 - Mayo Success!

Today begins Day 4 - I've been right on target for the first 3 days, but hungrier than normal. Not sure why. Last night successful homemade mayo. The secret? An immersion blender or stick blender. Put all the ingredients in a container and then pulse with the blender and it miraculously becomes mayonnaise. It looks beautiful! However, I'm not sure I like the taste - it might be too much olive oil flavor even though I used the light oil. I think I'm going to try to make some salad dressings out of it (found a good one for ranch) and then try the next batch with avocado oil or a blend of olive and avocado or even coconut - I found a recipe that uses that.

I made my second batch of protein bites from the Primal cookbook - I really like these. I've been making pumpkin spice lattes in the morning. I got this coffee from CafeFit through a Groupon or something and it's geared towards weight loss so I'm using that in the lattes. Very easy to make - 1 cup coconut milk and 1 Tbs pumpkin heated to steamy in a saucepan, then blend in 1 tsp vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice. Pour it in a coffee cup (large size) and cover with coffee - yum.

Last night tried the spa water I made with strawberries and oranges - very light fruity taste. It helps to have something else to drink besides water. For dinner I had a salad with homemade avocado dressing and crab legs!

Thinking ahead to the weekend where I hope to cook up a bunch of stuff for next week. The secret to this is to plan ahead. I think I'll make a big batch of paleo chili and freeze it in individual servings. I also would like to make a big pot of chicken soup. I have a recipe for egg drop soup that could be adapted to Whole30 but you cannot find chicken stock that is Whole30. I can find vegetable stock - but not chicken. I guess I'll have to make my own - which I don't think is too terribly difficult.

Right now I'm really having fun with this but also can envision the novelty wearing off and then what? I'm trying to think ahead to what will happen after the 30 days. What do I want back, what can I live without, what should I live without?

Some positive observations - nails are longer (however that might be because I haven't been in the pool as much), prior to the 100% Whole30 I started to scale back and dropped 5 lbs, at first it looked like I had dropped a lot of body fat but my scale must've been in shock and it's only about 2% thus far (no weighing during the Whole30 so I'm going to try to stick to that), bloating and stomach issues are improving, itchy skin is better but my skin is really dry (I am drinking HUGE amounts of water and very thirsty), sleeping better but I'm not seeing an uptake in energy levels as yet, not missing bread/grains or sweets at all (except for my evening dark chocolate bar), eating lots of new things I've never eaten before and would normally turn my nose up.

Some negative observations - must wash dishes much more often because of all the cooking (dishwasher is always full), spend a lot of time shopping for groceries and cooking (almost have to go everyday to keep fresh stock of veggies and fruits) and I always forget to get everything I need, the refrigerator is crammed full of homemade goodies, fruits and veggies making it difficult to find things. I really like tuna salad and egg salad but I don't think my homemade mayo is going to cut it - maybe I'll develop a taste for it.

I'm going to try to go back to my posts and include links to the recipes that I'm using.

Today's menu - Breakfast - 2 egg muffins, 2 strips bacon, some mixed nuts. I also brought an apple and some pineapple. Lunch - thinking of going out but am armed with my avocado salad dressing so I can get a salad with some chicken in it. OR I may go to Crazy Bowls & Wraps - will have to review their menu to see if they have anything that will work for me.
Dinner - leftover turkey and vegetables, sweet potato or something - not sure yet.

Whole30 - Day 3

I really want to make my own mayonnaise and my first attempt at it a couple of weeks ago was not a success - however, it did thicken up in the refrigerator and I was able to use it to make a creamy italian salad dressing. I didn't like the mayo on it's own - still too olivey or something. So, I tried again the other night to make it using a blender instead of a hand mixer - total failure....put it in the refrigerator to see if it would thicken again and it just separates. I am not happy with this result at all.

I saw a YouTube video for making mayonnaise that looks wonderful. He uses an immersion blender - so I went and bought one, but I haven't really tried it yet. I did try it on my failed attempt to see if it would come back, but no luck there. This the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz0fLT_k3_U

He makes it look very easy. A couple of things to note, he uses vegetable oil which is not Whole30 - so you have to use olive oil. He also puts in white wine vinegar and a little sugar - also not acceptable. I'm not sure if eliminating those would affect the way it works or not. I also looked at the bottle of olive oil I was using and it's Imported olive oil instead of Pure. I looked at the ingredients and it indicates Refined Olive Oil and EVOO - so that may be why I don't like the taste that much. I may try this approach tonight and see if it works - I'm so afraid of failure again though.

So for Day 3 breakfast - last night I made the egg muffins (http://www.oxygenmag.com/Nutrition/Articles/Clean-Egg-Muffins.aspx) - so I brought two of those and two pieces of bacon. I also have a container of my mixed nuts: almonds, cashews, macadamia and pecans. Lunch I think will be a salad with black olives and some shrimp. Dinner is still to be determined - maybe some organic hotdogs.

Whole30 - Day 2 or a Funny Thing Happened When Making a Latte

First of all, there were some adjustments to Day 1 - but still successfully whole30 style. I ended up going out to lunch with the girls. I got a tutto mare salad and I brought my own dressing with me - so no problem sticking to plan.

Dinner was eggs, bacon, sweet potato and turnip hashbrowns. My husband didn't want to eat the hashbrowns, so I had some left for breakfast this morning.

Yesterday, I was extremely hungry all day. Not sure why as I really had been satisfied since I semi-started this plan.

Breakfast - zucchini and sausage sauteed in coconut oil, eggs and the leftover hashbrowns. Lunch will be a salad at Subway - again I'll bring my own dressing. I get the chicken and bacon salad with all the veggies. Dinner - I put a turkey breast in the crockpot - so turkey and vegetables with a sweet potato most likely.

So here's what happened this morning. I decided to try to make a pumpkin spice latte from a recipe on the internet (http://coastalcavegirl.com/2011/08/29/pumpkin-spice-latte/). It was paleofied but called for honey, which I excluded. It also called for vanilla. I always have vanilla in the cabinet but couldn't find it for awhile. When I did find it and tried to pour it out, it was completely dried up - so no vanilla in my latte. The latte, by the way even without the vanilla. was pretty good. I bought some coffee on a Groupon (or something) for a place called CafeFit and it's weight reducing coffe - we'll see if it has any effect. The coffee was good!

That's today plan - did I mention that my mood seems to be more elevated since I started migrating to this plan? I smile alot anyway, but I seem to smile even more.

Whole30 - Day 1

Here we go. I've spent the past two weeks getting ready for Day 1 and come the morning of, I am totally unprepared. Went out last night and didn't get home in time to make homemade mayo - eggs and lemon must be at room temp - forgot to do that before we left the house. Luckily I made the avocado dressing (which is OK, not great) for my salad today.

Made the homemade mayo this morning after my 4 mile run and before heading off to work. Left the eggs and lemon sitting out overnight - hope that works out OK. Second attempt at homemade mayo - about the same result as the first. Still not pleased with the texture, but the fridge will usually thicken it up and we'll see. Then I can make the creamy italian dressing which isn't too bad.

Breakfast was leftover broccoli quiche from the Paleo cookbook without the cheese and a chicken/apple sausage. Also had a mixture of walnuts, almonds and macadamias. Have an apple for a mid morning snack. I should bring some almond butter to add to the apple as that would be really yummy.

Lunch is going to be a salad with black olives and tiny tomatoes using the avocado salad dressing that I made. Also will have two organic hotdogs and I brought along 3-4 protein bites that came from the Paleo cookbook. These taste a lot like a blueberry Lara bar.

I have a Lara bar in case I get hungry before dinner. Not sure what dinner will be but thinking maybe eggs, bacon and turnip hashbrowns. These are in the Paleo cookbook and look awesome.

Will check in later to report on the final parts of the day. Weighed myself this morning for a starting point for the 30 days.

Almost Go Time - Happy Halloween

My last candy treat for awhile - some chili flavored dark chocolate. I really feel as if I'm conforming quite well to this style of eating. It may be a little difficult to make the final adjustments, but I think I can do it. The one thing I'm not going to do is go full-tilt obsessed. If I'm eating out, I will make the safest choices that I can such as meat and vegetables. I will stay away from sauces but I will not worry if anything has been cooked in butter or something - it is, what it is. Good luck to me!

Whole30 Challenge - Setting Up

I've been ramping up to start my Whole30 challenge on November 1. For the past two weeks I've been shopping and stocking up on acceptable items. It is really depressing to find that most things have a forbidden ingredient or two. Even "all-natural" products seem to add sugar or soy or an oil that does not work. The next piece of this is that when you do find something that works, it's really expensive.

I've been having a lot of fun cooking as I haven't done that since my kids were little. We basically always eat crap or go out and eat crap. At this point, I'm a solid 14 days into about a 98% Whole30. There's a couple of things that I know I'm going to miss - regular mayonnaise (although I made homemade, I'm not sold on it yet), Diet-Rite cola and dark chocolate. But cmon, it will only be for 30 days and then I can put those things back in and stay focused on primal eating. Already I haven't missed the dairy or the grains that much.

So hang onto your hats....I've got two days left before GO time. (BTW, I will also miss having a glass or two of wine.)