One week down, three more to go! (It feels so much more manageable when put in weeks rather than days, right?!)
Today was a pretty good day overall, though I'm adding a new point on the timeline, "want to cry about everything." I felt like everything that was remotely frustrating made me want to cry, rather than kill things. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad sign, but I'm hoping it doesn't continue tomorrow. Also, having breakfast this morning and remembering to use my inhaler definitely helped me have a better workout than yesterday's unfortunate trip to the gym.
Here's a quick look back at the past week, just in case you missed anything (I personally recommend checking out the recipes).
Day 1 - Shared my first day of meals and a recipe for yummy chicken and veggie soup.
Day 2 - Shared two recipes that pair well together--salmon and broccoli with garlic. I also shared some bits of information and encouragement.
Day 3 - I tried to spread the gym love by sharing my tips for a more enjoyable trip to the gym.
Day 4 - I talked about cravings (those wicked things!) and shared a recipe for deconstructed taco burgers.
Day 5 - Rambled about dreams, eating out, and other things that were going on.
Day 6 - Shared two lettuce wrap recipes and additional information.
Overall, I'd say it's been a good week. Yes, it has been hard at times, but it has definitely been more rewarding than challenging. I'm still recommending that anyone and everyone give it a try, if only to see what it's like to really feel good and have increased energy. (Who can say no to that?!)
Also, looking for some new moves in the gym, or at home? Check out this: Glamor's One Month Slim-Down Plan, presented in a slideshow of photo demonstrations. Or come to Iron Horse and workout with me! :)
I'm not sure if I'll continue blogging daily, but we shall see! If not, I'll be sure to keep posting recipes and "milestones" and answering any questions I get.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Whole30: Day 6 + Wrap Recipes
Today's encouraging moment: my tightest pair of jeans is already feeling a little looser! I put them on expecting them to feel like they usually do: a tight squeeze. But today they feel really good, not too tight and a little extra give. It's nothing huge or crazy, but a nice little progress marker at day six.
I only ended up eating two meals today, which may have impacted my work out (that and the fact that I forgot to use my inhaler). Didn't go as far as I had wanted to, but it's kind of hard when your chest starts to tighten up. On the bright side, I didn't have any caffeine today and I didn't feel tired or head achy at all. Normally if I didn't have a cup of coffee in the morning, by the afternoon I'd be feeling it. So that was nice.
Tonight we repeated my chicken and veggie soup (recipe at the end of this entry) for dinner, this time doubling the recipe so we could have some for lunch tomorrow. We're also planning to try my egg drop recipe with beef broth to see how that tastes. I will share the recipe if it's better (than it was with chicken broth--okay, but not amazing).
We've also been delving into the realm of lettuce wraps lately. They really make a great substitute for bread (can't believe I'm typing this) when it comes to quick lunches and deconstructed burgers. Today we had tuna lettuce wraps for lunch. They were delish! So here are a couple wrap recipes for you to try.
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Ground Beef and Water Chestnut Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef, broken up into small bits
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1-2 scallions, chopped
- 5-7 diced water chestnut slices
- pinch of cayenne
- 2 pinches of basil
- 2 pinches of parsley
- spices sprinkled across pan while cooking meat: paprika, onion powder, salt, pepper.
Drizzle olive oil into a sauce pan, heat over medium with garlic while adding beef and stirring. Mix in scallions and continue to stir. Sprinkle/add all spices over meat. As meat nears completion (should be brown), stir in water chestnuts and cook for a few minutes over medium. Remove from heat and spoon into lettuce leaves. You may want to top meat with mustard, it adds a nice flavor. Wrap leaves and enjoy!
Tuna Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:
- 1 can tuna fish in water (if you're doing Whole30, make sure to check the ingredients!)
- approx. 1 tbs. olive oil mayo (use this guide to make your own)
- 1/2 tbs. mustard (or more, depending on how much you like it)
- 2-3 diced pickle chips
- optional: diced onion
Mix tuna and condiments together with a fork, breaking tuna up into smaller pieces. Scoop tuna onto a lettuce leaf, wrap lettuce around tuna and you're good to go!
I only ended up eating two meals today, which may have impacted my work out (that and the fact that I forgot to use my inhaler). Didn't go as far as I had wanted to, but it's kind of hard when your chest starts to tighten up. On the bright side, I didn't have any caffeine today and I didn't feel tired or head achy at all. Normally if I didn't have a cup of coffee in the morning, by the afternoon I'd be feeling it. So that was nice.
Tonight we repeated my chicken and veggie soup (recipe at the end of this entry) for dinner, this time doubling the recipe so we could have some for lunch tomorrow. We're also planning to try my egg drop recipe with beef broth to see how that tastes. I will share the recipe if it's better (than it was with chicken broth--okay, but not amazing).
We've also been delving into the realm of lettuce wraps lately. They really make a great substitute for bread (can't believe I'm typing this) when it comes to quick lunches and deconstructed burgers. Today we had tuna lettuce wraps for lunch. They were delish! So here are a couple wrap recipes for you to try.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef, broken up into small bits
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1-2 scallions, chopped
- 5-7 diced water chestnut slices
- pinch of cayenne
- 2 pinches of basil
- 2 pinches of parsley
- spices sprinkled across pan while cooking meat: paprika, onion powder, salt, pepper.
Drizzle olive oil into a sauce pan, heat over medium with garlic while adding beef and stirring. Mix in scallions and continue to stir. Sprinkle/add all spices over meat. As meat nears completion (should be brown), stir in water chestnuts and cook for a few minutes over medium. Remove from heat and spoon into lettuce leaves. You may want to top meat with mustard, it adds a nice flavor. Wrap leaves and enjoy!
Tuna Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:
- 1 can tuna fish in water (if you're doing Whole30, make sure to check the ingredients!)
- approx. 1 tbs. olive oil mayo (use this guide to make your own)
- 1/2 tbs. mustard (or more, depending on how much you like it)
- 2-3 diced pickle chips
- optional: diced onion
Mix tuna and condiments together with a fork, breaking tuna up into smaller pieces. Scoop tuna onto a lettuce leaf, wrap lettuce around tuna and you're good to go!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Whole30: Day 5
Here we are at day five and things are still pretty good. I had my first food dream last night. I don't remember specifically what food it was, but I was at a party being offered non-Whole30 foods and I'm pretty sure I ate some of them. And then felt bad.
Eating out with friends and family isn't such a great thing any more, especially when you have to watch people eat their French fries and burgers and you're stuck with a salad and grilled chicken. (Although homemade avocado dressing does help with that.) Also today, I craved chocolate. That was a first for the Whole30. We have discovered that homemade frozen juice pops and real fruit smoothies make a great substitutes for dessert. We found frozen fruit with no added sweeteners that we blend with some apple juice for our smoothies. Yum!
I'm not quite at "kill all the things" level, but I can feel myself getting easily irritated and frustrated if things don't go correctly. So hopefully I'm basically bypassing that phase as I'm already in "I just want a nap" mode. Because I fell asleep yesterday afternoon and today for a little bit.
Nick and I are still encouraging people to join us, because cravings aside, we've been eating and feeling great. I'm not getting nearly the amount of caffeine I used to intake and my energy levels are better than before. Especially at the gym, but I think I mentioned that. I can't help but continue to promote Whole30 and its benefits to friends and family. It's not the most fun thing, but feeling good never felt so good. ;)
Tonight we cooked up some beef for lettuce wraps. I'll let you all know how they turned out, but basically I broke up the meat, added garlic, scallions, spices and water chestnuts and sauteed it in a skillet with some olive oil. If it's good, I'll pass on specifics.
Anyone else have any recipes to share? I'm also curious to know if any of you are considering the Whole30, want to start or are going to start. Or are you doing a different diet or health routine? Please share! :)
Eating out with friends and family isn't such a great thing any more, especially when you have to watch people eat their French fries and burgers and you're stuck with a salad and grilled chicken. (Although homemade avocado dressing does help with that.) Also today, I craved chocolate. That was a first for the Whole30. We have discovered that homemade frozen juice pops and real fruit smoothies make a great substitutes for dessert. We found frozen fruit with no added sweeteners that we blend with some apple juice for our smoothies. Yum!
I'm not quite at "kill all the things" level, but I can feel myself getting easily irritated and frustrated if things don't go correctly. So hopefully I'm basically bypassing that phase as I'm already in "I just want a nap" mode. Because I fell asleep yesterday afternoon and today for a little bit.
Nick and I are still encouraging people to join us, because cravings aside, we've been eating and feeling great. I'm not getting nearly the amount of caffeine I used to intake and my energy levels are better than before. Especially at the gym, but I think I mentioned that. I can't help but continue to promote Whole30 and its benefits to friends and family. It's not the most fun thing, but feeling good never felt so good. ;)
Tonight we cooked up some beef for lettuce wraps. I'll let you all know how they turned out, but basically I broke up the meat, added garlic, scallions, spices and water chestnuts and sauteed it in a skillet with some olive oil. If it's good, I'll pass on specifics.
Anyone else have any recipes to share? I'm also curious to know if any of you are considering the Whole30, want to start or are going to start. Or are you doing a different diet or health routine? Please share! :)
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Whole30: Cravings Central + Recipe
Today I woke up with only one wish--to stuff my face with cereal. Preferably Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I'm not picky.
I've also been craving bread. Lots of bread. Rolls, slices, pizza dough (yeah, don't look at pictures of pizza dough when you want bread, it does not help). A restaurant in town makes really good french bread, and my mom and I went there for lunch yesterday. I can happily say I resisted, but it. was. hard.
Tonight we went grocery shopping for dinner at a local hometown-y store. We were walking down one of the aisles... with bread... ug, bread! And I forced myself to look away. Of course on the other side of the aisle, what did I see? Cereal. (Cue angry face.)
My cravings haven't really been that bad yet. I mostly crave something bad for a few seconds as I remember those days when I could just grab a handful of whatever (Cheez-Its, peanut butter, cereal!) and just stuff my face. Yes, I admit, all I've wanted to do lately is stuff my face.
On the flip side, I've been feeling really good. I only get slight headaches when I'm hungry and I'm not too cranky. I only get a little psychotic when I can't find something, or feel frustrated. But thankfully, it quickly passes. So things in that department are going well.
Workouts have also been going well. Today I did three miles (walk-run-walk-run-cool down) on the treadmill and then some weight training. Not bad for the fifth day back in the gym. I'm already feeling increased energy levels thanks to the Whole30. So yes, gym love is totally happening! :)
And though I'm only on day four, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do once the Whole30 has been completed. Yeah, it's early, but I can't let myself get back to the way things were with too much fast food and too many sweets. Right now I'm contemplating two "allowance" meals, which will be healthier choices but still fast food, or food at sit-down restaurants. Those would be Wednesday night (with the youth group kids) and Sunday afternoon (we usually do lunch out with my family). The rest of the time, meals would be planned out and mostly Whole30-compliant. I do think I will allow some dairy back in, because hey, I love my milk. And some bread, whole wheat and of course, in moderation. But that's just what I'm thinking now. It could always change.
And now, on to the recipe. We made deconstructed burgers for the past two nights in a row. The first night I stuffed them with garlic and scallions and topped them with spices. They turned out pretty good, but not as good as the second night when we made taco burgers! Mmm mmm. So I am going to share the taco burger recipe with you, because it totally rocks my taste buds.
Deconstructed Taco Burgers
Ingredients:
- We used this recipe for homemade taco seasoning in place of a packet, however we didn't have pepper flakes so we used two pinches of cayenne. Prep the seasoning according to directions.
- 2 scallions, finely diced
- ground beef, rolled into baseball-sized portions
Make a bird's nest in each beef ball using your thumb. Proportionally sprinkle taco mix and scallions into all bird's nests. Roll beef back into a ball, kneading mixture into meat, then flatten into patty. Place patty (or patties) into skillet and cook on medium heat, flipping until burger is evenly cooked. Once your burgers are done, if you're on Whole30, use a lettuce leaf in place of a bun and top with whatever condiments/veggies you like. We topped ours with mustard, homemade olive oil mayo, pickle slices, and cherry tomato slices. Snow peas make a great side, as does apple sauce.
I've also been craving bread. Lots of bread. Rolls, slices, pizza dough (yeah, don't look at pictures of pizza dough when you want bread, it does not help). A restaurant in town makes really good french bread, and my mom and I went there for lunch yesterday. I can happily say I resisted, but it. was. hard.
Tonight we went grocery shopping for dinner at a local hometown-y store. We were walking down one of the aisles... with bread... ug, bread! And I forced myself to look away. Of course on the other side of the aisle, what did I see? Cereal. (Cue angry face.)
My cravings haven't really been that bad yet. I mostly crave something bad for a few seconds as I remember those days when I could just grab a handful of whatever (Cheez-Its, peanut butter, cereal!) and just stuff my face. Yes, I admit, all I've wanted to do lately is stuff my face.
On the flip side, I've been feeling really good. I only get slight headaches when I'm hungry and I'm not too cranky. I only get a little psychotic when I can't find something, or feel frustrated. But thankfully, it quickly passes. So things in that department are going well.
Workouts have also been going well. Today I did three miles (walk-run-walk-run-cool down) on the treadmill and then some weight training. Not bad for the fifth day back in the gym. I'm already feeling increased energy levels thanks to the Whole30. So yes, gym love is totally happening! :)
And though I'm only on day four, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do once the Whole30 has been completed. Yeah, it's early, but I can't let myself get back to the way things were with too much fast food and too many sweets. Right now I'm contemplating two "allowance" meals, which will be healthier choices but still fast food, or food at sit-down restaurants. Those would be Wednesday night (with the youth group kids) and Sunday afternoon (we usually do lunch out with my family). The rest of the time, meals would be planned out and mostly Whole30-compliant. I do think I will allow some dairy back in, because hey, I love my milk. And some bread, whole wheat and of course, in moderation. But that's just what I'm thinking now. It could always change.
And now, on to the recipe. We made deconstructed burgers for the past two nights in a row. The first night I stuffed them with garlic and scallions and topped them with spices. They turned out pretty good, but not as good as the second night when we made taco burgers! Mmm mmm. So I am going to share the taco burger recipe with you, because it totally rocks my taste buds.
 |
| First attempt at deconstructed burgers with garlic-fried snow peas and carrots. |
Ingredients:
- We used this recipe for homemade taco seasoning in place of a packet, however we didn't have pepper flakes so we used two pinches of cayenne. Prep the seasoning according to directions.
- 2 scallions, finely diced
- ground beef, rolled into baseball-sized portions
Make a bird's nest in each beef ball using your thumb. Proportionally sprinkle taco mix and scallions into all bird's nests. Roll beef back into a ball, kneading mixture into meat, then flatten into patty. Place patty (or patties) into skillet and cook on medium heat, flipping until burger is evenly cooked. Once your burgers are done, if you're on Whole30, use a lettuce leaf in place of a bun and top with whatever condiments/veggies you like. We topped ours with mustard, homemade olive oil mayo, pickle slices, and cherry tomato slices. Snow peas make a great side, as does apple sauce.
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