The end of the beginning.

Bleh. I "finished" my whole 30 a whopping 13 days into it and am still pretty disappointed. I wish I could've kept going, I was starting to feel good and felt like it was working. But, sometimes life just doesn't go the way you want it to. I am going to try to keep up the spirit of the whole30 and if eat any grain at all, I am going to strive to have it be before lunch with the exception of rice which is gluten free. I noticed a huge increase in sugar cravings and carb cravings when I stopped the whole30 and had just a little off-plan foods. I think the trick for me is all or nothing, if I don't ever allow myself to "cheat" on my plan then I never open the door to massive binges of sugar and grain laden fare. I only lost 1 pound or so this week, but after having lost 9 the week before, I guess that makes sense. I am at that point where I am getting tired of eating healthy and not really seeing the results yet. I am going to keep it up though, I don't want to be sitting here a year from now wishing I had just kept it up and weighed 80lbs less. That's about what I have to lose, 80lbs. Possibly more, depending on how it goes. I heard once that the first 20 are the hardest, if that's the case, I am half way there!
On the menu this week-eggs for breakfast (always) and maybe a SMALL smoothie with spinach, fruit and coconut milk
lunch-salads, hummus and carrots, an apple, maybe some chicken (although it is Tuesday and I am OUT of salad already!) the rest of the week will be carrots and hummus and left overs
dinners-Monday and Tuesday round steak, pan fried with brown rice (or mashed potatoes) and peas
Tuesday-cracklin chicken thighs and sauteed green beans
Wednesday-ground beef stir fry with whatever veggies are left in the fridge (carrots, cabbage, green beans, peas) with cauli-rice
Thursday-Thanksgiving meatballs (recipe from my favorite paleo cookbook!) and sweet potato souffle (from my favorite blogger-Shaye Ellliot
Friday-advising movie night, I will probably treat myself to a slice of pizza and then eat fruit and veggies instead of snacks :)
This weekend will be interesting because we are supposed to go down to the Springs for my niece's 6th birthday. Its hard to behave at my parents house :)

day 13....and the end?

I havent posted much this week. The week itself was insanely busy, I did a cake for a friend's shower on Monday.
Tuesday I went to with the 8th grader choir to "sing to the elders" we walked down to a local retirement/assisted living home and they sang a few songs to the people who lived there. They are a talented group!
Wednesday and Thursday we had CMAS testing at school (because, ya know, TCAP is not enough)
not enough testing!!)
Friday we had a 6th grade field trip. All of these trips and testing are messing up my teaching schedule.
I made it through the week ok, cooking dinner and packing my lunch until Friday. We left the school at 10:30 and walked over to the park,  which was fun for the kids but a problem for me. I usually (always) pack leftovers and heat them up at school. We were out of leftovers, and I couldnt bring a sandwich or anything else like that....I ended up with fruit and carrots and a boiled egg.

I was frustrated and hungry by the time I got home.

Saturday morning Geoff and I were trying to figure out meals for the week because we are on a super tight budget because we are doing the Dave Ramsey method for getting out of debt. I was in tears because we needed to buy cat food and cat litter and lunch stuff for Eli and so on and so forth. The Whole 30 is many things, but it is NOT cheap. Geoff asked me to please make some exceptions because our budget cannot sustain the required restrictions. For example, I was going to buy a bottle of coconut aminos (a soy sauce substitute) to make stir fry for lunches this week. Well a bottle is $6-8 at Sprouts. We only had $85 left after buying cat supplies this week....so thats upwards of  10% of our grocery budget. I just cant afford to continue.

I am going to have to go off-plan and go rogue. I am going to still eliminate all refined sugars, but not worry about sugar in meat products like bacon or sausage. I am going to eliminate all wheat, but eat minimal amounts of rice and corn (its amazing how much farther stir-fry goes with rice!!) etc. I looked up a bunch of tips and thoughts from Mark Sission who is one of the fathers of the paleo movement and am following his ideas as best as possible. i am going to restrict my dairy intake, but not worry about trace amounts of dairy or soy in things. I don't think I have any issues with legumes and believe if eaten correctly they can be a good source of nutrients, so I plan on reintroducing those first. I am very disappointed with my failure, but need to do what is best for my family. Sigh,
I hope I continue to see results with the addendum to the plan. So far I have lost 9lbs (as of last monday)

Whole 30 check in-Day 7 and Easter

Blurry but smiley picture of Eli on Easter 2014

Easter 2014

I am on Day 7 of the Whole30...or Day 1. I (stupidly) and distractedly put a finger full of frosting in my mouth last night without thinking....I was finishing up a shower cake for a friend and just went with old habits. The Whole30 is pretty strict about any sugar making an impact so I guess I am starting over. Its not a big deal, I am planning on Whole30ing through the rest of the school year, I'd like to avoid the end of the year goodies that inevitably come with it. Its been tricky the last couple of days, we had Easter at my parents house and ended up going out for steaks. The moment of truth came when the server brought out plates of shiner bock bread, cheese fries, onion straws and fried shrimp. All of that was followed by everyone else's salads. (I chose to have asparagus instead of a salad). I made it through and ate my steak and dry sweet potato and asparagus, and was surprised by how delicious it was!! I left there full, but satisfied. I didn't feel bloated or exhausted after eating, and it was nice.

Cake for Lindsay's Wedding shower

Other moments of temptation followed, for example today we had a faculty-workday. Some of the teachers were asked to bring breakfast for everyone and there were tables laden with donuts, sweet rolls, cookies, brownies, yogurt, granola, cinnamon rolls and more. I chose a spinach and egg crustless quiche, and some fruit. At lunch we had a wedding shower for one of the teachers, complete with taco bar and dark chocolate raspberry cake made by yours truly. I had lettuce with taco meat (seasoned by me so it was Whole30 compliant!) and a spoonful of guac and salsa. It was actually satisfying! I haven't felt super deprived or like I am lacking this time. That was a huge issue for me last time. I felt like I had to eat boring, dry, tasteless food. This time I have found amazing paleo, compliant food options and felt like I have never eaten better in my life.

On the menu this week:
leftover paleo chili
mustard glazed chicken thighs with sauteed green beans finished with lemon
beef barbacoa with braised cabbage
cumin crusted pork chops with sweet potatoes
ribeyes with whatever veggies I have left! haha.

I am excited to take leftover in my lunch this week :)

All of this has pushed Geoff and I outside of our comfort zone in a lot of ways and challenged what we typically eat. I feel so much more satisfied with more veggies on our plate, and with more diversity in our menu each week. I think it is good for Eli too, as he is being exposed to new flavors and textures all the time. So far the only thing he is not crazy about is cabbage.

I have lost 3% of my body weight so far (we have to weigh in for Biggest Loser)

Whole 30

SO if you follow me on facebook you know I recently started a Whole 30...as of yesterday. haha, its the second one I have done, having completed my first one in October last year. I am hoping this will be the start of a  new me. Over the past year or so I have really focused on cleaning up my eating and trying to work out a bit more.

Goals: to lose weight, and break the bad food cycle

We are doing a Biggest Loser competition at school and I am on a team with two other fabulous teachers. I know those ladies are going to bust their butts to help us win and I do NOT want to be the reason we fail. I need to step it up! Strictly speaking, the scale is NOT to be a part of the Whole 30 but since I am doing the Biggest Loser at the same time, its going to have to be. Last time I lost 22lbs and felt great, I of course, did not keep that 22lbs off and am at my all time highest weight. Fail. I am going to do better and keep it off this time by sticking to the Whole 30 lifestyle 95% after this. I will likely add dairy back in first and see how I do, because I love dairy and don't suspect an issue. I have known I have grain issues for a while and will NOT be adding grains back in at all, barring special occasions. I will also leave sugar out because I know sugar messes up my hormone levels (insulin, and others as a by-product)  due to PCOS so its off the table as well after this. Depending on how I feel, I may do another Whole 30 right after this one with my lovely friend Katie :) She inspired me to do it the first time and I would love to do another one with her!!

So that's where I am now. I will try to post reflections and recipes as I get through more days of the Whole 30.

Favorite recipes today-sunshine sauce from theclothesmakethegirl.com try it!!
I had it on butter lettuce with chicken, carrots and sunflower seeds today, seriously made my lunch.
Other favorite recipes, homemade larabars, which is just 2:1 ratio of dates to cashews, almonds or something like that. You can add in dried fruit if you'd like as well. I just rolled mine into balls because I had slightly too many nuts and they weren't sticky enough.

If you want more information on the Whole 30 itself,  check out http://www.whole30.com/

 Day 1 went great, no complaints.

Day 2 so far has been OK too...however I have had a bad headache most of the day. It could be I am really tired, it could be lack of caffeine (coffee is allowed I just haven't had any) or it could be I forgot my water bottle today! I did manage to go walk for 30 minutes with Lindsay and did arms today. I felt a lot of muscle fatigue today, but so did Lindsay and she is not doing the  Whole 30. I have not been super hungry today either, but did need a snack after the gym.

Day 3 I took today off to spend some time with the hubs. I was afraid a non-routine day would be really difficult to navigate, but we did great!! We went out for breakfast, which can be difficult to do, but I had eggs and meat and fruit and it was perfect. I have adjusted to drinking coffee with no cream or sugar in it and that is just fine! I was NOT very hungry today at all, and ended up eating breakfast, an apple and dinner. Dinner was amazing!! I think my mindset the first time was awful...I had convinced myself that healthy CANNOT equal tasty. For whatever reason,  tasty, delicious, exciting food=bad
Tonight I worked on redoing my thinking on that. I have a great paleo cookbook, that I LOVE. Its called Practical Paleo and I made the sweet potato "pancakes" and jalapeno burgers and cauliflower tots. We had the burgers with butter lettuce, avocado slices and homemade mayo. Best dinner I have had in a while. Its very satisfying to eat dinner, then be full but not bloated or feel sick. Back to the gym tomorrow!

Day 4 I am not really tired or hungry today. Its been hard to find food to eat today that I want, I am just not that hungry. I had some coffee earlier and it made me kinda woozy. I had to TMI....RUN to the bathroom because I couldn't handle the coffee. Definitely side effects of the whole 30. It happens.
I had eggs for brekkie, watermelon, half a jalapeño burger and a sweet potato pancake (like a hash brown..?) for lunch and a small cup of chili and the rest of the guacamole and some sweet potato has for dinner. I also managed about 64 oz of water today, which is part of my biggest loser challenge. I didn't manage any exercise today because I forgot I told my coworker I would do homework help after school. On the flip side of that I got caught up on all my grading and I got all my grades entered! I needed to do that for my own sanity, so now I can focus on lesson planning and hanging with little man this weekend. In family news-we are in the middle of getting stuff done for the house so we can buy something :)

Doing Well

Great-Grandma, Eli and Mama

Just a quick post to say we are doing well in the Robinson Family. We just got back from Spring Break and spent a couple glorious days in Missouri with Geoff's awesome Grandparents. They are amazing. His grandpa is 81 years old and his grandma is 77 and they get up early every morning and hit the road running. It was awesome to be out there and just enjoy the quiet. They live on 5 acres in Missouri and its quiet and peaceful out there. Eli LOVES his great-grandparents, so he was a VERY happy camper. He did fantastic on the drive out there and back, he watched DVDs and ate twizzlers with mama and daddy.
In other news-we are doing AWESOME with Dave Ramsey's financial plan. We paid off our car 9 months early! yaya! So excited.

At Cabellas

Great-Grandpa and Eli