Whole30 - Day 22

I realized yesterday after posting that I forgot to mention that I got on the treadmill again yesterday. I warmed up until the treadmill read a half mile and then I ran (slowly) until 1 mile...then I walked again until the show I was watching was over for a total of 45 minutes. I just compared my stats from the last time I did this and my max heart rate was 1 bpm lower (a good thing) and my speed for the entire 45 minutes was faster. Awesome!

This is only about the 3rd time I've exercised during this Whole30 so keep that in mind when I start talking results. I'm hoping to get back into the habit of more consistent activity starting this week though.

I've been a little crabby this evening. I think that's because I really didn't care for dinner and now I'm feeling hungry. I'll probably have a little snack when I'm done writing this.

Here's today....

Breakfast
Breakfast was out again this morning (yes, I eat breakfast out a lot). I changed it up today and got a scrambler with sausage, onions and green peppers with a side of fruit.

Mary had a different breakfast this morning. I made her a couple hot dogs and sliced an apple. Robbie still had his sausage and I made Drew another scrambler, but this time I diced up one of the leftover stuffed peppers and put that in his scrambler.

Lunch
I had a dentist appointment today at noon (duh! Why would I make it then?). My dentist is now right next to Giant Eagle so I thought I'd just stop after my appointment and get a nice salad. However, when I got there I realized that I'd probably pay less for a whole rotisserie chicken than a salad so I bought that (as well as some more grapes and strawberries since we were out). Of course today I noticed the ingredient list on the rotisserie chicken. Yea, it's not 100% compliant. Oh well. I don't care that much. It's still a whole, unprocessed food and I take (most) of the skin off so I'm sure most of the bad stuff is in the skin anyway. I'm really not worried about it. It certainly isn't going to stop me from eating the leftovers!
I ended up eating some chicken, raw veggies with guac and grapes.

Dinner
I made this recipe of Jerk inspired Pork Chops. I paired it with prosciutto wrapped asparagus and some plain asparagus. The kids then added applesauce to their plates because the pork was REALLY spicy. I didn't think it would be that spicy but it was. And, I didn't care for it at all. I don't like pork chops. It doesn't seem to matter if they're bone in or boneless. I always overcook them and then they are dry and chewy. I can cook pork tenderloin or pork loin just fine, but can't seem to do chops.

This recipe was relatively easy though, which is always nice.

Robbie wanted me to take a pic of his plate. 

The Lowdown
I told Drew tonight that I still feel like my days go by so quickly and I seem to get nothing done. Every day I am spending a lot of time straightening my kitchen (doing dishes, putting clean dishes away, etc) and prepping food, that I feel like I barely have time to do anything else. It's not really true. I'm not being as efficient as I could be, but still. This definitely takes a LOT of prep and a LOT of planning. As much as I'm a planner it's even a bit much for me. I start making my menu plan and grocery list days before my scheduled grocery trip.

This way of eating has also been VERY expensive for us. I was hoping it wouldn't be that bad when you take into account how much we usually spend between groceries and eating out, but it is that bad. We are already about $200 over what we usually spend in a month (on both groceries and eating out) and I have at least 1 more big grocery trip ahead of me. To be fair, some of those things were pantry staples that are expensive (like oils, ghee, spices, etc). And, I had to get dog food this month, but that's only about $25.

We're pretty much in the home stretch now. 8 days remain and then I need to figure out how to feed myself and my family in a way which will keep us all healthy, help me lose weight and not make it so that I have to go back to work in order to afford groceries! ;-)

Whole30- Day 21

We have made it to single digit days remaining! I am definitely feeling proud of all of us. Thanks to everyone for your support!

Today was a good day. Here is what it looked like:

Breakfast
This morning was a little crazy because I was volunteering at Robbie's school this morning so I had to get myself ready in the midst of getting food ready for everyone else. I got up, took a shower and then started preparing breakfast and packing lunches. I packed Drew a salad with tuna on it and then started making his scrambler. I then made Mary's egg salad for her lunch and Robbie's turkey roll-ups (he did say he wanted chicken salad this week, but I didn't make the chicken last night so he had to have one day of turkey). I then heated up the sausages for the kids and peeled a hard boiled egg for Mary as well. When I was finally able to find a minute, I had 2 hard boiled eggs and some bacon for breakfast. I didn't take a picture because it was pretty boring.

Lunch
After volunteering I went and ran some errands and had planned to treat myself to Chipotle. As much as I love Chipotle the way that I usually have it, I know it's a place I can still be compliant.

**Crazy sidebar - I just had to get the kids out of bed to get into the basement for a tornado warning. Awesome. Better to be safe than sorry is what I always say though!**

Anyway, I thought I would get to Chipotle earlier, but I didn't and it was around 1 by the time I got home and ate. I was quite hungry since my breakfast wasn't very big.

After lunch I had to get to cleaning my kitchen. I also needed to cut up some more cantaloupe and pineapple (I can't keep up with these kids). Before I knew it, the kids were home from school and I was starting to prep dinner.
Dinner
Another new recipe tonight. This was another stuffed peppers recipe. I stuffed it with ground turkey, kale and basil. I put some sauce on it, which it really needed because the turkey was quite dry. Oh, I also made kale chips for the first time and when Mary first tried them she went crazy about how much she liked them. But then when I put some on her plate for dinner she didn't eat them. Oy vey!

So I forgot to take a picture of the pepper on my plate when it was pretty. So I took a pic of the leftover ones and still took a pic of my plate after I cut it all up.

The Lowdown
It really is getting easier and easier with each day. I kind of missed my chips and guac at Chipotle (not to mention the cheese and sour cream on my salad), but it wasn't horrible. Again, it didn't make me crabby or anything and I was happy to be eating my salad. It's just that I certainly did notice I wasn't able to get the salad the way I usually do.

9 more days to go......

Whole30 - Day 20

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the Mom's out there. I personally have the best mom in the WHOLE World! She had asked last week if we wanted to come out for dinner tonight to celebrate Mother's Day and I said sure. I told her to just let me know what she was planning to make so I could bring food for my family that sort of correlates with what she was having. She later told me she was just going to do steak for dinner with a salad and have veggies and fruit to snack on as well so I didn't need to bring anything. I think it's just awesome that she went out of her way to make a Whole30 compliant meal for me. She also still had things like crackers and cheese (and cheese to put on the salad) for those who wanted. Another thing that I completely forgot to thank her and my dad for is that no one drank wine! Usually at family gatherings my mom, dad and I are the big wine drinkers. Other people drink things like beer or wine coolers, but that isn't a big deal for me to pass up.

Anyway, here is what the day looked like:

Breakfast

Today was quite funny. I had gotten up this morning and then was kind of waiting around in bed because Mary had something something about making me breakfast in bed. She said she wanted to tell me ahead of time so I wouldn't get out of bed. Finally, after waiting for what seemed like a while, I got out of bed and just went to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Drew explained that he didn't do breakfast bed because he wasn't sure what to make (last year they just went and got donuts!). I laughed....and proceeded to make sausage and a scrambler with bacon, green peppers and onions. This morning both the kids talked about how good the scrambler was!

Lunch
I actually sort of skipped lunch today because I knew we were supposed to have an early dinner at my parents and I also knew she was going to have things out to snack on before dinner. When we got there I had some melon with proscuitto, which is just so yummy! I'll call that my lunch since I ate that around 2:30.

The kids did have lunch before we left for my parents house. Robbie had a chicken and apple sausage with some veggies and fruit. Mary had 3 (yes 3) compliant hot dogs with 2 measly cucumber slices and fruit.

Dinner
Like I said above, dinner was steak and salad along with sauteed onions and mushrooms and raw veggies with guacamole (which I made to bring). The picture I took isn't great because apparently there was a shadow on it, but you can get the idea. It was quite good and we got to sit outside to eat.

My kids also helped my mom make a "fruit salad" and Mary took a picture of her masterpiece.

The Lowdown
Today was a really good day. Being at my parents house for a get together wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. I mean, sure, I missed the wine a little bit but not a huge amount. There were times when I could have gone for a cracker with cheese, but it wasn't horrible. It didn't make me crabby or anything, which I think is a great success.

I think now is a good time to point out that no matter what happens with this 30 day challenge, this is for sure the longest I've ever gone eating healthy with no "cheats" or breaks or anything. I do feel good about that. The challenges are getting easier every time, but I would like to eventually learn to keep things in control and not necessarily have to completely avoid things. We'll see though. It's all a process. This was just my starting point though and I still have a long road ahead of me! But the countdown continues and only 10 more days until day 30!

Whole30-Day 19

Well, we did it! We made it through the baseball game being Whole30 compliant even though we weren't allowed to bring in our own food and drink. Really, it wasn't that hard, but it certainly ticked me off anticipating it. I'm telling you it doesn't help that I'm premenstrual. I guess eating clean hasn't helped my PMS at all ;-P.

Here's what Saturday looked like:

Breakfast
I woke up Saturday around 7 so I could head to Petittie's to take advantage of their buy 1 get 1 hanging basket sale. It was about 8 when I got home and Robbie had a soccer game at 9. I made some sausage for the kids but didn't really have time to eat. I grabbed a Larabar and a couple pieces of bacon from the fridge and that was my breakfast. Mary had her game at 11 so we came home in between and I had a small bowl of chicken salad to tide me over until lunch. Kind of a hodgepodge of breakfast, but it worked.

Lunch

Mary made herself some egg salad with fruit and cucumbers while I made Robbie his turkey roll-ups with fruit and carrots and celery. I them made myself a nice salad with strawberries, grapes, chicken, almonds and cut up prunes (I prefer to call them dried plums...doesn't sound as gross as prunes). Drew was still asleep since he spent the whole night awake at the Relay for Life. When he eventually woke up he made himself some sausages with leftover Brussels sprouts.

Dinner
As many of you know, we went to a Lake County Captains game tonight to celebrate Robbie's reading program at school. I had a plan to bring our own food until I saw on the website that bringing in your own stuff was not allowed. Great. Needless to say I was not happy. But, in the end, it was totally fine. I smuggled in 2 apples, 2 larabars, and 2 applesauce packets. Drew said he didn't need to eat since he had lunch so late. So I ended up buying the kids and myself  a hamburger with no bun with lettuce and tomato. It was just fine. Who knows if the burgers had some non-compliant ingredients in them, but I did as best I could under the circumstances. The kids then ate the applesauce and the apples and were still hungry later. They ended up getting another burger with no bun. I had packed some more fruit and almonds in the car as well. On the way home they both had another apple and I ate some of the fruit and almonds. All in all a successful evening. I was super proud of myself for hanging in there when I really didn't want to be bothered.

And that smile is why we went.....

The lowdown
Today was tough. But what's interesting (and kind of annoying) is that it's not even like I wanted to get the crappy stadium food. I just wanted to have the option. I am a control freak and I don't do well if I feel like something is out of my control. Or, better yet, if I feel like it wasn't my choice. I remember going to an Indians game a few years ago when I was being really healthy and I had no problem bringing fruit for a snack to the game (we were also allowed to bring in the food). I brought juice boxes for the kids, fruit for snacks and had planned for everyone to have a hot dog for dinner. So it's all in my head. I need to look at things a different way. I need to realize that this is my choice because I chose to do the Whole30. It is under my control because one of the only things I can control is what I put in my mouth.

I, however, am still thinking about what I "can" eat when this is over. That's not necessarily a good thing. We'll see what I actually end up doing, but I'm almost feeling nervous for the end. As much as I can't wait for day 30, I'm also kind of lost about what comes next.....

According to this, summer is next! :)

Whole30- Day 18

Ever have one of those days (or nights) when you want to eat something, but you just don't know what it is?? Yea, I'm having one of those nights. I have also decided that I'm pre-menstrual which is just GREAT for trying to remain strong over the weekend.

Here is what day 18 has looked like so far:

Breakfast
Most Friday's I go out to breakfast with my neighbor and then do my grocery shopping. It's a fun little routine we have. So today's breakfast was the same as yesterday and Tuesday. I actually didn't finish the fruit because I was too full. And, again, this breakfast kept me full until after 1:30.

Lunch
The salad I had yesterday at Panera was SO good that I decided to run out this afternoon and get another one. Today's was good, but not nearly as good as yesterday. I'm pretty sure I was just hungry. But today I actually remembered the picture.

Dinner
We were supposed to go to Relay for Life tonight with the in-laws, as we do each year to celebrate my mother in-law who continues to be a survivor of lung cancer. However, Robbie ended up staying home from school today because he didn't feel well and then the forecast was calling for rain so we decided he didn't need to be out there in the rain. Drew still went because he's planning to actually spend the night there with his brother. I packed him up some food for the overnight (I hope it's enough).

This was my dinner - Drew got more!

I had bought a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store today because I figured that would be easily transportable for the relay tonight. So, I packed some for Drew and then we ate the rest here at home for dinner. I just heated up some green beans to go with it. And since dinner I've had about 2 pieces of bacon because I'm snacky and can't decide what I want (probably nothing I can actually have).

The Lowdown
I am feeling like my relationship with food must be REALLY messed up because I don't feel like I've "changed" yet. They do say for some it'll take longer than 30 days, but honestly I have NO desire to do this longer than 30 days. How do you motivate someone to keep going for more than 30 days when they still crave things after 18 days?  However, I am feeling confident that I will be able to stick to another healthy eating plan when this is over to continue to lose weight (something like my fitness pal or weight watchers or something).

But, day 18 and I'm still struggling. I am even considering just letting the kids eat at the baseball game tomorrow. They haven't asked to or anything, I just think that because I want to just eat at the game tomorrow (but won't), I want to let them. It's silly really.

Oh well...here's to 12 more days......

Whole30- Day 17

Today was another good day! This is definitely getting easier, but the idea of being able to splurge a little here and there is still something I miss! And, unfortunately, I still fear that I might binge when this is over. I'm going to try not to though and just continue on this road to lose weight. This was a good starting point and I think I really needed a challenge like this to get the ball rolling, but I'm looking forward to a little more freedom (hmmmm..I feel like I've said that once before. LOL)! 

Here is what the day looked like:

Breakfast

As soon as the kids got on the bus for school I headed out to visit with my parents for the day. They live about 50 min (ish) away from me so not too close, but not too far either. I met them at Bob Evans for breakfast to start the day. I got what is becoming my "go-to" breakfast out of 2 eggs over hard with 2 sausage patties and a fruit cup. It was actually quite yummy. The fruit was really good! According to the plan I really should be having vegetables at every meal and I've pretty much given up veggies at breakfast. I got sick of scramblers (which are an easy way to get veggies in) and I just don't love veggies in the morning. So I am not following this as strict as I could be (and many would argue should be), but I'm fine with it for me. 

Lunch

After breakfast my mom and I did some shopping and before we knew it it was 2PM. She asked what I wanted for lunch and I said I didn't even feel all that hungry so I could just have a snack or fruit or something. She then suggested Panera to get a salad and I said sure. By then I did have a headache, but my stomach didn't necessarily feel hungry. We get to Panera and get our meals (I got the chopped chicken cobb with avocado without cheese or dressing). They did have olive oil and lemons for the dressing so I did that. I took a few bites of the salad and told my mom that it tasted SO good. Apparently I was way more hungry than I thought. I ate it up and was halfway through my apple when I realized I didn't take a picture. So this is what you get to see of my salad....all gone! 

Dinner

So when we're not doing the Whole30 I probably make marinated chicken about once a week or at least once every 2 weeks. In 16 days of this Whole30 we had not yet had just marinated chicken and veggies (a pretty normal dinner for us). So tonight it was marinated chicken with veggies. The chicken was just marinated with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. It was quite yummy. I wasn't all that hungry at dinner since I didn't eat lunch til after 2PM, but oh well. 

The Lowdown
I pretty much said it all above. In lots of ways it is getting easier, but I actually think we have some difficult days ahead of us. This weekend is going to be particularly challenging. Tomorrow night we have the Relay for Life (so I have to pack us dinner that we usually eat there. In years past we've just brought Subway). Saturday we have soccer and volleyball and then we're going to a Lake County Captains (minor-league baseball team for Indian's) game and then Sunday is Mother's Day. But, once we get through this weekend we only have one more weekend to get through!

I now know we can do this. I know we'll get to day 30, but there may be some more dark times to come! :)

Whole30- Day 16

It's all downhill from here, right?!?! We have officially completed more days than we have remaining. I'm glad we're at the homestretch of this challenge. It is definitely getting easier, but I long for a little more "freedom".

Here's what today looked like:

Breakfast
The kids had their 2 sausage patties and apple slices and Drew had a scrambler with some of the leftover chicken meatballs from last night (and some veggies, of course). I didn't take a picture of my breakfast this morning because it was small and boring. I was meeting a friend for lunch today and we were originally supposed to meet around 11. That's early for me so I didn't want to have a big breakfast, but I couldn't wait until then to eat. Turns out it was a good thing I did eat breakfast because she ended up having to push lunch back to about 11:45.

Anyway, I decided to just have 2 hard boiled eggs with some grapes and walnuts. It wasn't all that small in the end, but I was hungry by the time we got our lunch. I probably wouldn't have been had we actually met at 11 so everything worked out well.

Lunch
The kids had their usual packed lunches and Drew made himself a salad with leftover taco meat. I met my friend at Bravo and had looked at the menu prior to going. I decided the safest bet was their chopped salad with no feta and no dressing (oil and vinegar on the side). I added a grilled chicken breast to it for some protein. I almost forgot to take a picture of it, but after I cut all the chicken up and took a bite I remembered! :)

Afternoon Snack
Lunch wasn't all that big and didn't do a great job of keeping me satisfied until dinner. I ended up having some grapes with walnuts this afternoon to tide me over.

Dinner
Tonight's dinner was nothing exciting, but relatively "quick" and way easy. Steak with roasted sweet potato fries. That steak looks huge in that picture! It was a very thin steak though - still good size, just not as big as the picture makes it look.

Robbie of course ate his entire serving, part of Mary's (they split a steak so he ended up probably have 3/4 of a steak while Mary had 1/4), and a couple pieces of mine! I was worried about him eating too much right before soccer practice so let's hope he didn't get sick on the field (I'll find out when he gets home with Drew).

The Lowdown
I feel like these posts are getting pretty boring now. I suppose that's a good thing because I don't have to talk about how I'm struggling and how it was so hard today and what not. I wish I had a lot to say about all the wonderful things I'm experiencing. I don't necessarily feel like I have a ton more energy or anything. I'm still finding it hard to get motivated to do things like workout or clean my house. But this has definitely renewed my spark for eating healthy and losing this weight again by whatever means possible.

I spent some time today re-reading some of my posts from 2012. I got a little nostalgic for that time when I was training and eating right and losing weight. I want to get back there. I think I might have a plan in place for when this 30 days is over so I can keep moving forward with the weight loss. I'll discuss that in a post to come though. I still have 14 days to get through this 30 day challenge!