UPDATE Time!

OK I am WAY overdue for an update and I do have plenty to share! Today marks 3 weeks! We are on Day 22 and I can't even believe it! First I'll say that the boys are not as excited about this whole 30 Paleo adventure. My sweet sweet husband is trying SO hard but he is also having to eat a lot of fruit to stay full and happy. He is just not the meat eater Erik and I are! Erik has also had a few issues, it all goes back to the whole getting enough calories issue, so he has added back in cheese and whey protein. He has noticed an increase in dandruff since adding both, but he is back to normal in the gym! Karl will do the re-introduction as described in the book, but it would have to be a HUGE reaction for him to not return to a few items!

I, however, am doing GREAT! I broke the "no weighing" rule cause I'm just not willing to not check and I've lost a reasonable amount and that always helps! So far the changes I've noticed are: decreased cravings, increased energy, improved menstrual function, consistent and improved bowel movements (yup I went there), slightly better sleep, improved temperament, and more awareness of why I'm hungry. That is pretty HUGE for me! I'm still having joint pain (although I think the knee is slightly better) but I'm working hard with my chiropractor to fix a few things that diet alone cannot address. Those back and nick issues are likely the cause of what headaches I do still get, but in general my headaches have lessened a bit.

I learned a BIG lesson in week 2, this is a lesson I have to re-learn often in my life! K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Silly! I was trying new recipes every day and trying all kinds of things that were not familiar to me. In week 2 after I tried a soup recipe from one of the blogs I stalk that just was not our taste, it hit my like a ton of bricks....we ate grilled chicken and lean burgers weekly before I started whole 30 (we didn't use buns) so why not continue that! DUH! So we have started doing just that and life got a lot easier! We also try new stuff but much less often!

I think the biggest key to success so far has been always having food prepared! We have not once had to have the "there's nothing to eat so let's eat crap" dilemma...something I'm all too familiar with! We have veggies and grilled chicken in the fridge almost everyday and then a rotated meat or too as well! While I'm on that topic I'll share what my husband does to the chicken cause I seriously LOVE his grilled chicken! We cook it from frozen which is super easy and always available!

Perfect Grilled Chicken:
Place 6-8 frozen chicken breasts in a gallon sized zip-lock bag. Add the following to the bag; 2 tsp salt; 2 Tbps Kirkland's brand "No Salt" seasoning; 4 Tbsp oil (we use avocado or olive); 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; 2 Tbsp white vinegar. Then shake the bad up and get every piece coated in the seasoned mix. Once the grill is warmed up place the chicken breasts on the grill and pour half of the remaining oil and seasonings on the breasts. Grill for 13 minutes and then flip and pour the remaining oil and seasonings on the breasts. Cook another 13 minutes then check the temp. Remove each piece once they reach internal temp of 160 degrees.

I seriously eat a ton of that stuff! We also made an awesome pulled pork today! I have a feeling we will be making this often, cause Karl actually likes it and for meat that is saying A LOT! I also managed to make a good mayo! I found one using avocado oil because Karl prefers it and he is the one who needed mayo! He really liked it and used it to have some canned tuna.

We have also made a few of the meat recipes from the book: Mexicali Meat (pg. 265) YUMMY; Mexican Chicken (pg. 266) nice change; Green Chicken Curry (pg. 273-274) super easy and delicious! OH and we cooked the chicken in coconut milk in the crock-pot and that worked great! We also made the pesto in the book and it worked out pretty great!

I'm going on a vacation this next weekend and I'm super excited! I'm going to see some of my dearest friends and they are planning to make sure I can stay compliant all weekend! I sure have GREAT friends! My 30 days ends the day after I return from my trip and I'm very interested to see what foods I react to. Either way I plan to end up back on a second full whole 30 with some different goals! This whole 30 has been focused on not eating bad or neutral foods, changing my cravings, and detoxing. The next whole 30 I want to focus on portions, which good foods I still overeat (avocado is likely on that list), and adding a good balanced exercise plan! I'm working 30 days at a time to improve myself and find MY fuel!

There's always something to learn...

L

Day 4: No Regrets!

Today has been a great day! A busy day but a great one! I am only speaking on my own behalf for this statement because both of the boys are tired today (very tired). I'm like a little energizer bunny! Something is working!!!!

I scrambled two eggs for breakfast (which confirmed my NEED to not run out of Italian Brunch Bake EVER). The eggs were ok and I added salsa and a side of carrots, which are my new breakfast favorite for veggie...no rhyme or reason to that one! 

For lunch I had leftover AMAZING chicken from last night, along with that yummy roasted zucchini mix! I also had a treat of perfect cantaloupe! I packed the exact same lunch for tomorrow! I sure am saving money already by packing my lunch! Yay maybe that house down payment will be ready 1 month sooner...haha!

We had LOTS of cooking to do tonight we were out of leftovers and Erik is starving LOL! We grilled chicken and burgers! The chicken was cooked the same as last night but the burgers had tallow added!!! They came out great! Little more juicy, but just a note apparently tallow catches fire! All worked out well and maybe even added a nice char to my roasted peppers!

That is one BEAUTIFUL grill! Sadly all this meat will be gone by tomorrow night! 

After dinner I made another Italian Brunch Bake!!! This time we roasted our own red peppers fresh, they were on sale 4/$1.00! We also doubled the meat for more protein per serving. Are you noticing a theme? The boys think they are starving so we are making sure there is plenty of food. We cook and consume more meat then I ever thought possible for a household of three! 

Now is the time to stop reading if you do not want to hear the female details....

Ok, the most telling sign that this is working for me is that I felt an ovarian cyst pop and I've now started my first natural (no added hormones) menses in years. This sure makes the 30 days worth it and I really believe there is only more to come! I also had only ones dose of ibuprofen today...this is HUGE! No headache only some backpain, which I think is related to previous advantage! No regrets here!!!

There's always something to learn...

L

Day 3: Ended the day on a high note!

I woke up with the same nagging headache I went to bed with last night. That did not make for a fun morning but it did cause me to get up early, which was nice! I'm sure everyone can guess my breakfast today...Italian Brunch Bake!!! Still yummy but today was the last portion...so there will be variety tomorrow haha!

My headache subsided around 9 am YAY! However, that brought on a wave of cravings that lasted the majority of the day. I was prepared with a great lunch of tarragon cream chicken, salad, and almonds so that helped a lot.

The day up until dinner was mostly uneventful but dinner...ah dinner! Dinner was perfect! Karl grilled chicken and it was awesome! He had forgotten to defrost the chicken so he cooked it to temp from frozen on the grill with our normal prep (which is Kirkland Signature No-Salt seasoning and a coat of oil). It may have been the day or our adjusted taste buds or hopefully cooking from frozen (we will try that again)...I don't really know but it was some of the best chicken we've had! Along with that I made my roasted squash mix which is always a favorite and it's easy to make! We also enjoyed some perfect cantaloupe today with dinner!!!

For the roasted squash mix just cut up assorted squash, zucchini, and onion (I occasionally add bell pepper); add salt, pepper, and garlic; coat them in some oil (I use olive or avocado) then bake them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes...just till they start to brown on the bottom. Man that is a treat!!!

I also made Tallow this evening!!! I used the recipe linked and it was SUPER easy! We plan to cook with it tomorrow which I am SO excited about! The boys are getting sick of me excitedly screaming "guess what? I made tallow, how cool is that?" I guess it is only totally awesome to me ;)

 

 This is the suet in the crockpot, we let it sit outside all day! Low for 10 hours as Paleo Parents suggested!

Here are the small "cracklins" that cook out. I actually went to buy cheese cloth and filtered one more time to get a few even smaller pieces out. 

 One jar of tallow ready to add flavor, moisture, healthy fat, and for Erik...calories to our Whole30!

I'm hopeful that I'm headed over the withdrawal hump...

There's always something to learn...

L

Day 2: Headache and heat, but mostly boring...

I'll start by saying that today was NOT a great day! I wouldn't call it a horrible day but it was for from good...

It all started with walking into work at 7am to an 81 degree office building! WHOA! Luckily I had eaten my leftover Italian Brunch Bake in the car cause once I walked in that door there would have been NO EATING! The breakfast was great again! I actually LOVE that breakfast so much that everyone may get bored on my behalf....but I'm a weirdo who can eat the same thing over and over if I like it!!! I, of course, also added veggies!

I got nauseous very quickly after entering the sauna that was my office for the day and the headache soon followed (and it has not left)! I did however manage to drink more water then I thought possible from 7 to 9, at which point I had a meeting in a refrigerated building, so refreshing and so short lived. The office just got hotter by the hour. At noon management finally let people with access set up go home to telework. I went home to eat lunch and had leftover tarragon cream chicken with a nice salad and some cherries! Clearly my nausea was gone! It was great! I sure do love food! I miss having a nice hunk of bread on the side of that plate (I will not lie) but I'm enjoying to food I do get to eat!

After an afternoon of working from home I was exhausted and again the damn headache had NOT left so I had a snack of almonds and cherries; I'm trying my best to avoid snacking but today it was a must! The boys (I have always affectionately called Karl and Erik "the boys") are also feeling the pains of changing; Karl is having the hardest time. He seriously can't eat as much meat as other people, and he is craving sugar are cereal. And Erik (by the way you'll hate him after this) is having a hard time eating ENOUGH calories! He needs more fat in the meals. One of the highly recommended fats in the paleo world is beef tallow (rendered beef fat) and another loved fat is coconut oil/milk/butter. Erik likes the butter straight by the spoonful so we took a little shopping trip in search of tallow and affordable coconut butter! We found grass-fed (grain-finished) beef suet at a local butcher shop (Keller's); beef suet is the beef fat that gets rendered into tallow. They also have exclusive grass-fed, but were out today so they are going to call me in a few days to go get more. For this reason, we only got 1 pound today. Tomorrow before I go to work I will start the rendering process and by tomorrow evening I should have some tallow to add to our meals! Look forward to that post...haha...oh the learning!

This is beef suet for all the inquiring minds! 

Dinner was more leftovers, this time meatloaf, I added a little oil before reheating cause I got it a tad to dry! I had carrots and roasted asparagus (another item you'll grow tired of hearing about) and it was a great meal! I finished the day off with a juicy nectarine!

I'm having no problem feeling full and satisfied but this headache better go away soon cause I'm not digging it! I'm also not happy about the waking at night to pee; I wouldn't mind that correcting soon!!! Until then I"ll keep trucking! One positive thing happened today; I felt a cyst pop (this is a familiar pain/relief) and causes some familiar symptoms (I'll spare you from reading those). To many this may sound bad, but to me it's great...hormones pop those pesky pains-in-the-ass and mine tend not to so yay for today! Karl is taking this one day at a time, we did get him some sunflower better today so let's hope that helps!!!

There's always something to learn...

L

Day 1: Learning to Like (maybe eventually love) Mushrooms!

Well it's Day 1! I'm sure as my excitement wears down, and life gets busier (this is a weekend after all), I'll post less often but for now I'll post as I can!

Breakfast was left over Italian Brunch Bake! YUUUUUMMMM! I warmed it up in the toaster over because I'm a snob about eggs in the microwave (shiver), and it was great! I had some concerns about warmed up egg but concerns officially GONE! This meal (from Day 0) is going to make a regular appearance in my Whole30 and beyond! I also added some cucumber slices and cherries to breakfast and I'm stuffed. That being said I'm one of those people who will REALLY be learning a lot when it comes to breakfast (cause I rarely ate it and if I did it was always wrapped in a tortilla), so my portion was smaller then recommended but I'm taking baby steps!

Beautiful and yummy!

I've never been a coffee drinker, and if you have met my family you will realize that is a HUGE shock and anomaly, but I'm also NO stranger to caffeine!  SO...I brewed fresh unsweetened black iced tea this morning! I LOVE tea and grew up a sweet tea drinker, I've previously adjusted to drinking it unsweetened and it sure helped with the no soda (yes I was that soda in the morning kinda girl)!
I mowed the lawn after breakfast and that left me super tired, more so then most weeks so I think the changes are taking effect. I got a headache not long after mowing the yard not sure what drove it, I had hair piled on top of my head due to a lack of desire to dry it after my shower and I tend to have headaches but...I took some tylenol, drank some water, and took my hair down and was better fast.

I decided to take on a few projects today to prepare us for the week! I made Whole30-friendly simple ketchup, the BBQ Sauce from page 274 of ISWF, and attempted the olive oil mayo from page 276 of the book! I did this while I also made meatloaf for lunch!

First lets talk ketchup and BBQ sauce! I like my ketchup, mostly on foods I can no longer eat, but I like it! Karl, my husband, LOVES ketchup! He puts it on EVERYTHING! I knew from the beginning of this Whole30 idea that I was going to need to find/make some good sauces to keep him involved! Luckily there must be many others like him out there so finding recipes was easy. I just picked one cause that seemed like the easiest thing to do, it was VERY easy to make and tastes pretty good (apparently to him it has an after taste so I'll be trying it sans allspice next round). We also tasted it before giving it the night to rest and let the flavors combine....I'll update if his opinion changes! Here it is:

I stored it in a jar from one of my ingredients last night! I might try it with my meatloaf left overs this week!

Then there's BBQ sauce! We use it on chicken a lot (you will notice as we move through this process I am the meat eater in our marriage) and this helps Karl get the chicken down (his way of saying it not mine)! The book has a BBQ recipe so I decided to make it! It smells great! I never shy away from using the maximum spices listed, this time a full teaspoon of the HOT Trader Joe's Jalapeno Sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper might have been a tad too much! Karl liked the taste, but we will dial the spice back a little next time! I let it simmer a little longer then suggested to get my desired thickness but overall pretty easy!

Here it is pre-cooked...

and here is the finished product!

So those are the success stories, then there'e the mayo... First, you should know I am not a super patient person, so this particular item may take a few attempts! I looked at a few recipes and they ALL stress that the ingredients need to be at room temperature (which takes time) and that the oil must be added SLOWLY, VERY VERY SLOWLY! I think I messed up both of these items and it resulted in a creamy mess...so I guess I'll try that again tomorrow! This next attempt needs to go better cause so far I've not overly impressed Karl with the recipes I've tried and he wants to eat can tuna and mayo (yuck but ok).

While preparing sauces I also made the meatloaf!!! I chose to make two loafs so I could have LOTS of leftovers. I also cut the garlic down (only 1 Tbsp of minced) and decreased the tomato paste (I had 6 oz cans so I used 1.5 cans per loaf instead of 2). Of the optional add-on ingredients I added onion! I LOVE THIS MEATLOAF! So does Erik, the roommate! Karl on the other hand says it tastes good but he does not understand how Erik and I eat so much meat...ugh I think I need to make some calorie dense vegetables for this man! I will make this recipe again but when I do I will likely add some more veggies and only use 6 oz of tomato paste per loaf (to keep the carb/natural sugar low)! To top off the meal I roasted some asparagus with avocado oil and coarse salt, and had cucumber and garden fresh tomato. Here is the finished product:

AWESOME!

I decided to try one of the master recipes from the book for dinner; I used the tarragon cream version of the chicken master recipe (Pg. 265-266 in ISWF). YUMMMMMM! I can't believe how many mushrooms I've eaten since last night without a single complaint! Maybe I am learning something!!! I had to cook my chicken a little longer (maybe my temp was off) but this recipe was nice and easy! Erik reserved his opinion until he added up the total carbs (super low) so he loves it haha! Karl's response was "it's coconuty" and "it's good for chicken", I'll take it! We also had some more roasted asparagus! 

The picture does not do it justice! 

Last item on the to-do list was to prepare my breakfast and lunch so that tomorrow can be successful; I prepped Italian Brunch Bake and tarragon cream chicken!!! We all survived and conquered DAY 1! YAY us!!!

There's always something to learn...

L

Day 0: Preparation, Expectations, Goals and more.....

I'm calling the couple days before I turn this whole thing on "Day 0". I have read lots of blogs, looked at umpteen recipes, been to too many stores and I'm not sure if I'm ready or not! But ready-or-not August 4th (DAY 1) is tomorrow! I have a meal plan, which I need to get in better order so I can share it here easily. I have stocked up on the necessities. I started this blog (which I'm hoping will help with accountability). I also have annoyed a few of my friends with all the details and ordered a couple a copy of the book. I'm calling myself ready regardless of any other feelings pulsing through me.

I expect the next few days to be rough for all three of us as we adjust, but at least we know to expect that part. I'm trying many new recipes, so I'm a little stressed about the idea of cooking a meal we all hate....but eh trying new things is good. 

We treated today like a prep day! We had no grains, no legumes, and no alcohol. I had diet soda (farewell bad-for-me friend) and a tiny bit of cheese, my husband had a last cup of hot cocoa and a bit of cheese, and our roommate had cheese (plenty of cheese). We tried one of the new recipes for dinner, it is one I am hoping to have work for breakfast. Whole30 provided a post with links to MANY recipe blogs and they are all great! Making the meal plan was hard cause there were too many options not cause there weren't enough; tonight's adventure was Italian Brunch Bake! I'm going to freeze one serving to see how I like it frozen and re-heated. I love her ideas and I'm excited to see what I can do to save time and still eat clean!

I've included some pics of our first Whole30 meal, which will be breakfast for Day 1. I doubled the recipe since we have 3 people eating, we think it will make 8-10 servings.

This is how it looked before I added the ground beef and eggs. The zucchini is from our garden!

 Here it is ready for the oven!

 Fresh baked!

One serving! 

We also had a few tomato slices (fresh from the garden) on the side. I am not a mushroom fan but that is based on texture not flavor, in this dish the flavor was great and the texture not bad at all!! I loved it! My roommate said he liked it and could eat it again. My husband said he "could choke it down and that's pretty good for beef" (he is not much of a meat eater). Overall everyone agreed we should make this meal again so in the rotation it goes!!!! YAY a win on Day 0, that has to be a good sign!

Now to document our goals and concerns:

Me

Goal: Lose weight; master my sugar cravings; improve my joint pain 

Concerns: 100% no cheats...that's hard but that's the plan!

Husband

Goal: Lose weight; improve allergies
Concerns: "Being able to do it"

Roommate:
Goal: To determine if dairy (cheese, milk, and whey protein) needs to be limited going forward
Concerns: Getting enough protein; maintaining muscle mass

There's always something to learn...

L

The Facts, The Problems, and (with any luck) the Solution!

I'm very new to this whole blogging business but I'm very excited about the step I'm about to take in life and I want to tell EVERYONE about it! However, not everyone in my life wants to hear it so I decided to tell the Internet, this way the people who do want to listen can and the others don't have to!

Ok, I've titled this post "The Facts, The Problems, and (with any luck) the Solution!" mostly to remind myself where to start and to put in writing the why behind this blog. So here are my facts:

1. I'm 31 years old and life is pretty easy at the moment!
2. I have an amazing, supportive, kind, and honest husband!
3. My friends and family are out of this world! Seriously, I hit the jackpot many times over in this department!
4. My career is where I want it to be and I enjoy it!
5. I love learning new things!
6. Now the less rosey facts...I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), I've had this particular issue since I was 14, although the symptoms have become more significant in recent years.
7. I'm fat! I want to stop here and address the use of the word fat. I'm technically (medically) obese, but we're talking about my body and my mind and obese is a far more repulsive word for ME than fat is.

Those are the BIG facts about me of course there are many more aspects to me and my life but I doubt anyone wants to read more then whats above! SO let's move onto the problems (which I hit on the the facts), my weight and my health. I'm fat and I'm not happy about it. I love most of my life until I look in the mirror, then I see someone I just don't recognize. I feel more vibrant, more active, more shiny, then I look. I know this could mean to many that my weight shouldn't matter...but it does. It matters to me and one thing I've learned in life (which took lots of learning) is that my feelings, I, matter! Therefore, that makes my weight a problem. With that being said, obliviously, my health is a problem. PCOS patients who are overweight increase their risk of type 2 diabetes; that does not sound fun! In addition to future risks I have pain now. My knees creek like 100 year old wooden floors, my lower back aches like I've been out doing physical labor all my life, and nothing is further from the truth there, my upper back tingles when I've sat in one place for too long, and I have a headache...constantly. I've had all these issues looked at by doctors and they've all had many pieces of advice but also always a common piece of advice....lose weight! Now that you understand the problems let's explore the proposed solution!!!

We had an intern at work this summer and she and I connected with the common bond of both having PCOS and both needing to lose a few pounds. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I've tried many "diets" before, some even with great short term results, but I've been searching for a real meaningful way to change my overall diet for life. I've been confronted with the worsening symptoms of PCOS and acknowledge the need to address them! During our bonding this intern told me about a book she had read "It Starts With Food" and that she was on a 30 day challenge, the book details, to eat clean and reset your body! I toyed with the idea and asked a few questions.  My main question was; what can't I eat? answer: NO sugar (real or fake), NO grains, NO alcohol, NO legumes (a word I still don't pronounce correctly), and NO DAIRY. With that I left the idea alone for a couple weeks, cause come on, NO DAIRY, NO SODA!

Then I went to my endocrinologist who, despite her blunt honesty or maybe because of it, I love!!! She was glad I knew there was a weight issue and that I agreed we had to address it. I told her about the program I had learned of and she said it sounded like a good idea. She said most of her PCOS patients must stay on a limited-grain or low-carb diet to maintain a healthy weight and avoid additional complications. She also said that the food groups being eliminated are common foods people don't tolerate well and that she likes that they are not banned forever, but rather you determine how you react to them. So I had a pity party (and threw a tantrum that would rival any 2 year old) cause I don't want to have to watch everything I eat so close and I don't want to find out what my body doesn't tolerate! I want to stick my head back in the sand and ignore the facts and the problems! But remember that "amazing, supportive, kind, and honest husband" I mentioned....well he only lets a pity party go SO far! He listened and agreed that the plan (any plan I'd need to try) would be hard, but that he thought I should really consider it. So I decide (at 9pm on a work night) to go to Barnes and Noble and look at the book, not buy it cause come on it's far cheaper on amazon. I left Barnes at 10pm book in hand! I had read the preface, forward and first chapter and I was hooked. I was NOT sold on doing this myself but I was certainly intrigued enough that I could not wait for amazon two-day shipping.

I stayed up till midnight reading, then read more the next morning while getting blood work and on it goes. By Thursday evening I was darn close to being completely in but I live with a husband who eats cereal, milk, plenty of cheese, hot cocoa, and more daily! And, someone I didn't mention earlier is our roommate (and my husband's business partner) he is SUPER healthy and currently eats close to the proposed plan 90% of the time, with the exception that he eats a TON of dairy and occasionally drinks. If I was going to do this I sure could use some help....

So I asked! My husband reluctantly said he would do it for 30 days, I had added in the fact that many people on this plan eliminate season allergies which he suffers form greatly. My roommate said he has always wanted to try an elimination diet but wasn't sure he could cook enough food to keep him sustained (seriously this dude eats A LOT). We all three decided to give it a try, but only with a clear meal plan to avoid not feeding the monsters!

This is all happening fast (I bought the book July 31st and we officially start tomorrow, August 4th)! We all have one or two main concerns and a few key things we want to monitor (more on that in the next post) but I really think this is my solution; my method to finding the right fuel for MY body! Oh and please excuse the HORRIBLE punctuation, I never remember the rules for comma's (or parentheticals), and I LOVE exclamation marks!

There's always something to learn....

L