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.