Day 15

I had my regular breakfast today - coconut "cereal" with a few black berries and a side of eggs and carrots. I've got a new recipe in the slow cooker that I'm going to try for breakfast tomorrow. It's sort of  like apple pie filling.

PALEO APPLE PIE BREAKFAST

2 Apples, cored and chopped
1/2 c Shredded Coconut
1/4 c Coconut Milk
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tiny pinch of Salt
Toss all of that in the slow cooker and stir to coat. Turn it on low for 4-6 hours.
Top with extra coconut and crushed almonds or cashews.

I'll let you know how it turned out... tomorrow!


Lunch was Applegate Farms all beef organic Hot Dogs. I'm not big on hot dogs but these (I hate to admit) were delicious! I used my Paleo Ketchup and some mustard for dippers and made a quick carrot and cucumber salad with paleo ranch.
And... then I ate two more hot dogs, because that wasn't enough. I'm a little ashamed but they were crazy good.





Dinner was a paleo-ed version of a BIG MAC SALAD.
Obviously I can't have cheese so I browned some grass fed organic ground beef with onions and put that on a bed of cabbage slaw, kale, tomatoes, and half of a pickle, chopped finely.
Then I mixed paleo ketchup with a little mustard, and my paleo mayo to make Big Mac Sauce/1,000 Island Dressing. (You know that stuff in the bottle is just ketchup/mustard/mayo, right?)  The kids helped prep dinner and surprisingly they both loved the sauce. Glad to see them moving out of the ranch comfort zone.
The sauce went over the ground beef and that was that. Easy dinner for the girls and me.
The little ones aren't big on cabbage slaw, so we deconstructed their meal, but they liked it just the same. ...and yes that's Pirate Booty on their plates. And cheese. Color me jealous.  :) The salad really did taste like a big mac. I'd eat it again, but on a bed of normal iceburg lettuce, even if it's not as nutritious.

I kept my carbs and calories in check today, and I also worked out, so the scale should move again tomorrow. It didn't move at all this morning after my carbalicious day yesterday. I'm lucky to have it stay the same instead of bumping up, really. Here's hoping for continued fat loss tomorrow.

Day 14

Breakfast today was the usual paleo cereal. I've decided that I don't need the almond meal AND the coconut chips though, so I'll cut that back tomorrow. Looking at calorie totals and nutrition data, it was clear that both are high calorie food items and both are primarily fats, so having both is redundant and I don't need the added calories anymore. Coconut has good fats while almond isn't as good. It's not bad, just middle of the road in terms of good for you fats.  Today's breakfast topped out a little above 800 calories and all I added was a strip of bacon. (And 2 eggs, but I always eat those with it.)

Lunch was leftover no tortilla soup and a little salad made of cabbage slaw, kale, half a mandarin orange and my homemade vinegarette. One more bowl and I should have that soup gone. It's good but who wants to eat on it for a week? Not this girl.

Dinner was a new york strip steak topped with olive oil and garlic with roasted asparagus. My husband chose a ribeye. The kids shared my steak as well and ate their asparagus in addition to the fruit I gave them. My kids will take a steak over chicken any day. They were born with good taste. :). It was good to have asparagus in season again. Winter, out of season asparagus is no contest.

I think my husband is either still dealing with some sugar cravings or I didn't feed him enough tonight because he was wanting a smoothie after dinner. We made a banana, almond butter, and frozen blueberry shake. It was sooo good ( as are most things with a sugary bananas in them) but I'm sure I will pay for it on the scale tomorrow. I did run this morning, but really racked up the calories and carbs today. Way too many carbs in the fruit and I just could have made better food choices today. I forgot how carby tomatoes are at lunch. I'll do better tomorrow.

Two weeks down! We're half way. Actually we've decided that we will be done on the Friday before Easter. We have a party to attend that evening and it's not practical to keep to our whole 30 menu at Easter. So... 12 more days to go. I feel like I've learned some good eating habits that I'll carry with me even after this challenge. It's been a very positive experience so far. I've learned that its a lot easier to fill up on veggies than it is to fill up on more high calorie foods. Veg just satisfies faster than carbs do and they're more nourishing to the body, not to mention less calorie dense. I also learned that if I fill up with the right veggies and proteins, then I'm not tempted as much by treats. I will go back to using cheese and real butter, but I may look to other snacks as cheese six used to be my go- to snack. I'll cut down on the yogurts and beans without much difficulty going forward as well. 

Day 13

My husband was needing something sweet last night so I made him a banana, coconut milk, and almond butter shake. I had a bit and it was pretty good! Technically not approved. You're not supposed to drink you calories but the poor guy needed a treat. He battled an awful cold for the first week of the diet and now he's broken out in hives. We thought it was a Splenda allergy previously, but now that we can't have sweeteners, it's obviously not that. Apparently he's allergic to dieting. The poor guy. I told him he was off the hook, but he wants to continue until Easter.

Breakfast was on the run. I fried two eggs and ate them burrito style in the car on my way to my hair appointment. Highlights and grocery shopping seemed like a little vacation without the kiddos.

Lunch was late but I wasn't that hungry. We had Trader Joe's Kobe Beef Burgers with paleo ketchup and mustard. We had Kale Chips and carrots on the side. I made the Paleo Ketchup by mixing the following:

PALEO KETCHUP
6oz tomato paste
1tsp vinegar
a little onion powder
a little garlic powder
water to correct consistency
I microwaved it for 30 seconds, gave it a final mix, and set it out to cool before regrigerating it.

KALE CHIPS
Break the stems off the kale and cut into bite sized pieces.
Toss with oil and sprinkle liberally with salt.
If you think you added enough salt, add some more. Really.
Then Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. You want then good an crispy.

Both of my kids are good eaters but the littlest (or youngest, she isn't all that little compared to her sister) is a little more cautious about new foods. However, when my oldest told her that the kale chips were probably martian food, she couldn't resist. She ate half the pan herself. Score!!

Dinner was a SIRLOIN FILET WRAPPED IN BACON. I just brushed with olive oil, smeared with chopped garlic, and seared both sides before putting the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
None of us were really all that hungry, since we'd eaten lunch late, so there were no veggies. (Shhhh, don't tell.) Instead we had a small bowl of berries with coconut milk cream.

It's interesting how our taste buds are changing in the absence of sugar and sweeteners. When we started this, the coconut milk tasted bland to me and I wouldn't have known it was made from coconut if the label didn't say. Same with coconut chips. Boring. Now, after two weeks, I can totally taste the sweetness and flavor of the natural coconut. Same with the strawberries that I put in our bowl. I thought they would be sour, being out of season and kind of crisp when I cut them, but they tasted fairly sweet.

Soon I'll be off to take my last shot of natural calm and settle in to watch a movie with the hubby. Cheers to lazy Saturdays.

Day 12

I had the usual for breakfast. Coconut "cereal." Lunch was FINALLY the last of the pizza casserole. Can I get a Hallelujah?
The kids begged for McD's so that's what they ate and honestly, knowing that cheating means I have to start over really keeps me from wanting to. I actually felt more badly about feeding crap to my kids while I ate nutritious food.

Dinner was a paleo take on bang bang shrimp. I sautéed 1lb of shrimp sprinkled with seasoned salt and garlic salt. While that was heating, I mixed my paleo mayo with hot sauce, and chopped some tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce, dividing them into two bowls. I drizzled two spoonfuls of the sauce over the salad and tossed the rest with the finished shrimp. I topped the salads with the shrimp, reserving some for the kids. They ate their salad and shrimp deconstructed like a lunchable. It was really good and probably one of the more flavorful recipes we've had so far. I'd eat that one even when I'm not on a diet.

After dinner I took my second dose of "natural calm" magnesium supplement and my third fish oil pill. That sounds pretty wacky, huh? It IS pretty wacky. The natural calm fizzes when you add water, just like alka seltzer. Nasty! The book recommends both though, so I quickly learned to add the minimum 2oz of water to it (via the kids' medicine cup) and toss it back like a shot. It's extremely citrusy/tangy. I had been taking magnesium in the pill form for a few months prior to the whole30. I've noticed that it makes a positive impact on my sleep, digestion, and well being. I feel more patient and less anxious when I take it. Being a rather shy person, I'll happily take something that reduces anxiety. lol! Even if it fizzes like a crazy witches brew.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day which means I'd better go finalize our menu plan. We've got chicken, beef, and ribs in the deep freeze. Should be interesting. :)

Day 11

I have more coconut! That's what I had for breakfast with 2 eggs, carrots, and some chai tea.

Last night my husband bought some chocolate mint tea to try. It smelled really good. It tasted... Okay. He tried some chocolate Guayaki tea at work and really enjoyed it, so we were hoping this would be as good. It's nice for a change of pace. I drink iced tea all day, so a different flavor is good.

For lunch, I made a chicken salad lettuce wrap that I found the recipe for on Pinterest. It called for apples, chicken, red grapes, green onion, and peanut butter in a lettuce leaf. I didn't want all the sugar of 2 fruits, so I subbed cucumber for the apple. I obviously used almond butter as well. The verdict? It was awful. I won't put cucumber and lettuce together again. Yuck.

Dinner was baked cod. I put ghee, lemon juice, and chives in the bottom of a baking dish. Topped that with the cod, and slathered Dijon mustard all over the fish. I topped the fish with crushed almonds and baked at 350 for 25 minutes. I'm not a fish fan. My husband challenged me to cook and eat a new fish. That's how tonight's dinner came about. It was pretty good though and not too fishy. Salmon is tastier but cod was okay too. I do miss real butter and Worcestershire sauce though. That's my favorite way to cook fish. Yum!

Last night my husband and I were talking about how we don't snack before bed anymore. He said, "I might go get a snack if we could have a cookie or something tasty. Knowing that nothing is going to taste all that exciting though, I'm fine to do without." I think he makes an excellent point. We weren't snacking because we were hungry. It was just a habit or a "want" for something pleasing to the palate.
Speaking of treats, I could really go for a brownie. In fact we went on to fantasize about the perfect treat when we're done with this. (Which is not the proper intent, of the program, but it is what it is.) Brownies with peanut butter cup ice cream and some caramel would be in order. Holy yum! For now, it remains a dream though. On to day 12. Three days until half way. :)

Day 10

Today I got up early and headed to bootcamp. My husband plays basketball on Wednesday nights so I either do a later bootcamp class or an early morning one. I grabbed a banana before I left but didn't have any protein or veg which is against the rules. Hopefully it didn't spike my blood sugar too much since I more than worked off the calories of that banana. (400+ calories).

Breakfast was apple, green bean, sausage, bacon, chicken, and egg hash. Very colorful and filling. Not necessarily satisfying. Maybe with more bacon. ;) Its going to take more than 30 days for me to learn that i need to eat for nourishment, rather than enjoyment.

Lunch was leftover spaghetti squash pizza casserole. Will I ever see the bottom of that storage container? It's the casserole that never ends. You should have seen the monster spaghetti squash it started from.

My husband came home with M&M cookies tonight. Suuuuper yummy looking. ::sigh :: We gave one to each of our girls after dinner and hid the rest deep in the deep freeze. Along with the thin mints.

Dinner was chicken with tomato basil sauce. I found some marinated roasted tomatoes on the olive bar at whole foods and had to have them. They went into this dinner. If you're looking for the recipe, we ate it last week and I listed it there. It's really good! On the side we had a giant broccoli, cauliflower, almond, green onion and carrot salad. I used my sweet salad dressing of equal parts puréed raspberry, vinegar, and light tasting olive oil.

I ate just over 1,000 calories today, but never felt hungry. My carbs were in range but higher at just under 80g. That was due to the apple and green beans with breakfast and the spaghetti squash with lunch. While all of those things are healthy and approved choices, I would benefit from eating less spaghetti squash based foods and less fruit. Oh and that banana, weighing in at 40g of carbs on its own (half of my total carb intake) certainly did not help. That was probably the single biggest culprit of my high carbs today.

Tomorrow I will start my vitamin regimen. My "natural calm" magnesium supplement arrived along with my fish oil supplements. Both are recommended on the whole 30 plan. Hopefully the added magnesium will help me sleep better. I saw every hour again last night. Ugh. I had to order both vitamins online simply because I'm not interested in shopping multiple places trying to find compliant vitamins. I can't believe all of the extra crap they put in vitamins. I swear soy is in almost everything we eat (extra estrogen, anyone?) and sugar can be found in the oddest places as well.

The kids and I hit the grocery store today for a quick maintenance shop. I've got my coconut flakes refilled so guess what's for breakfast tomorrow. I'm becoming highly predictable. :)

Day 9

Breakfast was my paleo cereal with 2 eggs. We're out of coconut flakes, so tomorrow will be different. :)

Lunch was the last cilantro lime chicken patty and a mix of raw carrot and cucumber.

We had apples with fresh ground almond butter for afternoon snack. Whole foods and our local grocery store both have machines that do this. I needed a protein source to add, so I picked up a chicken packet from my premade stash. I'm kind of tired of plain chicken, and had some almond butter left, so I dunked my chicken in it. It was really good! Since there's no sugar in it, it pairs especially well, like peanut sauce or like breading in almond meal, which we've done many times before on our low carb diet. I think I have a new go- to snack.

Dinner will be fast paleo's Bacon Chili. I followed the recipe pretty closely. I just used leftover London broil instead of ground beef.

I'll have some protein after bootcamp tonight. Probably deli turkey and mustard. Then that'll be a wrap. The fridge is closed until morning.