So I know it's been a while since I've posted to my blog, but I thought I would start again. The girls are two years and four years old now and the cuteness has worn off.… Just kidding. They are as cute as ever, but blogging about their cuteness hasn't come to mind lately.
Being on Pinterest, and Facebook, I've seen a lot of social media about diet fads, recipes, etc. Last year when Penelope was about seven months old I started a Paleo diet and lost 30 pounds! I was thrilled with the results, but slowly started going back to my old habits of eating processed foods, grains, carbs etc. after about a year and a half. I gained back about 10 of the pounds that I had lost. Then in March 2015 Jeff received a job offer in Worcester, Massachusetts! Needless to say I was thrilled to be moving back to New England; The place that I loved growing up in! I now live close to friends from high school and college, and my parents live about an hour away in Rhode Island. We've been loving living here in our beautiful, yellow colonial house, even though it took me a while to get used to it.
Anyway, going back to my health journey, in May 2015 I started doing Stroller Boot Camp with my friend Gilian and getting back into shape. I lost a couple pounds here and there, but it wasn't what I wanted, so I tried the 21 Day Fix. I did not see the results I was expecting; losing only 3 pounds eating healthy, clean foods, but including carbs as well. Iw as constantly hungry, tired and cranky. What the 21 Day Fix did teach me was that portion control is important, and that I was including too much fruit in my breakfast smoothies. I also loved the 21 Day Fix exercise videos, with 30 minute doable exercises that left me sore every night!
So recently I've seen a lot of information about Whole30 on Pinterest and decided to try it out. It's basically 30 days of strict Paleo eating; including mostly vegetables, meats, and some fruits, as well as healthy fats. That means no alcohol, no dairy, no legumes, no cheating, and no weighing. It took me about two weeks to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do. Once I got started the first week, I was pretty hungry and craving lots of sweets and carbs. I'm now on day 10, and feeling pretty good!
Since I cant weigh myself, I cannot get results so far on what has happened in that area, but I'm not sure I've lost weight since my clothes seem to be fitting the same. What I have noticed is my skin looks better, I have more energy, and I can focus better.
So now down to what I've been eating. I didn't want to have to prepare lots of fancy meals. When I did Paleo, Jeff and I found some easy yummy meal that we still make, so we have made a few of those. I looked on the Lazy Girls Guide to Whole30, and she gave some good ideas about making tuna salad, chicken salad, and having Lara bars on hand in case I didn't have anything else.
I've also included infused water, with lemon, lime, cucumbers, grapefruit, mint, and ginger in my diet and I love it! I've also been drinking Kevita, which is a kind of Kombucha, which I love! I include avocado and coconut oil in my smoothies every morning, although Whole30 says not to have smoothies, I believe my smoothies are compliant since they only include berries as a sweetener and no dairy.
For lunches it has been tunafish with pickles and apples sliced in it. I've also had chicken meatballs in lettuce wraps, and chicken apple sausage dipped in honey mustard. I've been eating lots of baby carrots and drinking tons of water. Coffee has been a challenge; I've tried it with Almond milk and it seems to be working. Although I've never been much of a coffee drinker anyway. For dinner we've made stuffed peppers with roast beef and mushrooms and onions, zoodles with meat sauce, turkey on top of salad, eggs with veggies, etc. last night I made Indian butter chicken with Collie flower on the side; it was so good!
The hardest part for me so far has been the after-dinner period; not having something sweet to snack on has been hard, as well as my nightly glass of wine! But so far so good!
Full disclosure: I did have a couple alcoholic beverages on Valentine's Day as well as one small bite of chocolate soufflé. The Whole30 rules say that if you eat even one bite of noncompliant food, you are supposed to start the program over. I have decided to ignore that rule...sorrynotsorry.
I read this book instead of It Starts With Food, because I heard it has the same information.
My new beloved, Kevita! Only 5 grams of carbs in half the bottle.
Drinking this stuff has definitely increase my energy, and I believe I see a difference in my skin. I love apple cider vinegar!
Typical lunch!
Breakfast smoothie: Half avocado, protein powder, coconut oil, Chia seeds, flax seeds, unsweetened almond milk, kale, frozen berries, ginger, and turmeric.
Indian butter chicken with cauliflower
Zoodles with meat sauce
