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