Thursday, April 30, 2015

The end is here...or is it?

Day 30!  I made it!  Not a single crystal of sugar, not a drop of alcohol, no grains, legumes, or dairy. Last week I traveled 3 out of 5 days and still made it work.  I went to a Mexican restaurant with my co-workers on one of the nights and did not join the others in having a margarita or chips and salsa.  

Was it difficult?  Honestly, most of the time it was an easy plan to follow, although admittedly it requires a lot of planning and creativity, especially while traveling.

Was it worth it?  Yes, I really think it's a fantastic plan for me.  I am sleeping better than I have for years and I feel good.  I never experienced the great burst of energy that was supposed to occur in the second half, but I am not experiencing that daily 3 pm drop in energy anymore.  And...I lost almost 8 pounds.

What's next?  I think I'll keep going.  Not as faithfully or as strictly as the requirements during the 30 day phase, but for the most part - yup. I like my vegetable "rice" and vegetable "pasta".  I'm not having any cravings.  I'm not missing any of the forbidden foods.  Yet.

Will I join in the Friday happy hour tomorrow at work?  We shall see.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Day 16

Well, I've made it past the halfway mark without cheating once!  Last night, I had co-workers over for a team dinner and despite the freely flowing wine, I poured myself a mineral water in a wine glass and didn't even feel deprived. Dinner was Greek themed - souvlaki, Greek potatoes, salad, baba ganoush, veggies, tzatziki, and pitas.  I admit, it was really difficult to make the tzatziki sauce and not have any.  I almost had a slip up when I did my normal taste test for seasonings and then suddenly realizing that I had just put dairy in my mouth, immediately spit it into the sink and rinsed my mouth out with water.  Ok, maybe a bit drastic, but I feel pretty committed to the process.  I can't say I have noticed any extra bounce in my step or fantastic surges of energy.  It's difficult to say whether or not my allergies are any better either.  One huge thing that I'll attribute to Whole30 is that I have had two nights of sleeping through the night (until 4:30 am) which hasn't happened in years.  I could use a whole lot more like that!

Next week, I am traveling for 3 of the 5 workdays.  I won't have much say in where we eat, so I might be eating a lot of plain salad and grilled chicken.  I plan to have an emergency stash of nuts and Lara bars (some flavors are just fruit and nuts).

That's it for now - 14 days to go!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Waiter, I need a drink

Oh, and a pizza, please.  At least that's what I was imagining myself saying.  I'm tired.  It was a looooong day.  For reasons unknown to me, I was wide awake at 4:30 am this morning.  I decided to start my day with a 4 mile run, which it turned out was not very much fun because  my legs felt like lead stumps (thank you squats last night for that lovely feeling).

I had a long, busy, day at work with clients sending in one request after another, extending my to-do list onto a new page.  On my drive home, I had a lengthy debate with myself about whether or not I would be opening a bottle of wine.  It was just one of the days, you know the kind, where you look forward to kicking back and relaxing with a lovely glass of Cabernet.  Usually I find cooking relaxing, and look forward to the prep work, slicing, dicing, and chopping my way to a tasty meal. But tonight I was not in the mood to do anything.

I poured myself a wine glass full of...sparkling coconut water.  Ok, it's not exactly the same as a glass of wine, but the ritual of sitting and sipping out of a wine glass is relaxing.

And, I cooked.

Thai Massaman Curry over rice (rutabaga rice, that is).  Yes, you are reading correctly.  Rutabaga rice made with my spiralizer and then chopped into small bits like rice with the food processor.  It's mild and the texture is just like rice.

  







Check out the size and texture.  It looks just like real rice!




Words simply cannot describe the absolute delicious depth of flavor.  Warm and comforting and SO much better than pizza! My long day just got a whole lot better and I'm glad I stuck to it!


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Day Six and Seven

I got nothin'.

I know it's hard to believe that I have nothing to say.  Keith is shocked.

That past two days were relatively uneventful, normal workdays.  This morning I ran a 5k before work and did a leg workout after work.   Breakfast this morning was an over-hard egg sandwiched between potato "cakes."  It was delicious.   Lunch was field greens topped with homemade chicken salad and dinner was pork chops, baked sweet potato fries and sauteed zucchini.  I can't say I'm not eating well.

I feel good, but haven't noticed any changes or improvements yet.  Apparently, great bouts of energy are headed my way; here's hoping!

Well, I guess that was a little something.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Day 5 - A day of interesting eats

Day 5 began with the leftover headache from last night.  What the heck?  I was beginning to wonder if I would or should keep up the program, but interestingly, after playing basketball with Keith for about an hour this afternoon, my headache just disappeared.

Breakfast this morning was sweet potato and blueberry waffles (from the Inspiralized cookbook).   I know it sounds odd, but it was warm, hearty deliciousness!  Just a few simple ingredients and we had breakfast.  Check it out:



Lunch was homemade chicken salad on top of field greens and veggies with a splash of olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and basil.  Also terrific!

We rounded out the day with triple coconut shrimp (dipped in coconut flour, eggs & coconut and then cooked in coconut oil), beet salad and kale chips.  Life is pretty good!



Saturday, April 4, 2015

Day 4 - headache, day two

I was hoping that my headache would be gone when I got up this morning, but unfortunately it has hung with me most of the day.  Quite normal, apparently, headaches should be gone by tomorrow.  

I spent a couple of hours this morning looking at ideas and recipes for meals that comply with the strict requirements.  I always plan my week's meals out in advance to avoid the mid-week, "what the heck are we gonna eat" syndrome.  I recognize that the only way to be 100% successful on this plan is to be completely prepared.  So, armed with my list, I headed to the grocery store and had a bit of a shock at the end of the trip when I realized I spent quite a bit more than our normal budget.  I am pretty excited about our menu choices this week though and will post results as I go.

For years, I have eaten smaller meals and snacked on fruit or yogurt in between, so I assumed it would be a struggle to adjust to the three meals a day, no snacking policy (strongly suggested, not a hard and fast rule).  I admit that I have been pleasantly surprised that I can go 5 hours between meals without feeling famished.  

I'll leave you with a picture of my breakfast this morning.  It's not very exciting, but was pretty tasty.


Friday, April 3, 2015

Day Three

Apparently right on cue, day three brought on a headache this afternoon;  a constant dull ache, only moderately tempered by two aspirin.  The eating plan has been relatively easy to follow and still no hunger pains.  Breakfast was an egg scramble with leftover veggies from last night, and dinner was chicken cordon bleu (without the cheese), cauliflower mash (like mashed potatoes, but no milk) and green beans.  The craving for gum wasn't as bad today, so perhaps I'm breaking the gum addiction.  I even made it through our Friday happy hour at work by pouring LaCroix Sparkling Water into a wine glass.  It's kind of a silly little trick, but it actually works.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Day 2 - Kitchen Gadgets

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a certain affinity for kitchen gadgets.  So, to make meals a little more interesting while on Whole30, I bought myself a spiralizer.



It doesn't look like much, does it?  Tonight I made zucchini "spaghetti" in place of soba noodles for the stir fry we had.  Fantastic!




So, day 2 went smoothly.  I didn't feel hungry between meals and my only difficulty (again) was the slight gum withdrawal I experienced after lunch.


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Whole30 - Day 1

For those who don't want to be bored by my daily ramblings for the next 30 days...well, don't read this. As I said in my last post, I want to keep myself accountable and committing to posting daily will help with that.

If you're still reading, you might want to know what Whole30  is and why I'm embarking on this particular 30 day journey.  The premise of Whole30 is that "Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it." To find out if these foods are affecting you, you cut them out of your diet completely for a full 30 days. No sugar, sugar substitute, grains, dairy, legumes.  NONE.  Oh yeah, no alcohol either.  Including red wine, which prompted Keith to snort with a somewhat evil laugh "good luck with that."  

OK, "so why would you want to do such a thing?"  you ask.  Good question. The main reason is the extra 30 pounds I've put on since the hike, despite my best efforts, dieting, running, and working out. I also suffer from terrible allergies that seem to be getting worse.  And, I'm tired.  I haven't slept through the night in years.  Will this cure all that ails me?  Maybe not, but I figure it's worth the sacrifice for 30 days to find out.

Today was day 1 and so far, so good.  I didn't have to modify the way I eat too much, since lunch is usually salad and some kind of protein anyway.  I didn't feel like I was hungry between meals, so that was a nice change.  My only difficult time today came after lunch when I really, wanted a piece of gum.  It's like dessert to me.  I admit freely that I'm addicted to chewing gum.  Hey, there are worse things.  But, I'm committed to the no cheating policy of the program, so I'll push through.

All in all good day.  Let's see how day 2 goes!