Hitting the Pause Button

So I did restart a few days back from where I should have originally have been and it was great.  But then life happened and at this point I don't have enough foods tested that make it super simple to just grab something and eat. 

Because of the weekend and then next Wed - Sun being crazy days, well even Monday and Tuesday, I'll be putting in cafe hrs - it's just easier to not worry about it for a few days. 

Thank you for all who faithfully read and are following my "plan."  Don't worry, I do like it and am totally noticing a big difference -- The lowest my weight got down to was almost 8 lbs from where I started!!  Not only is that awesome, but my joints felt better :-)  So I am going to keep it up, just hitting the pause button while I work in the MPA cafeteria for the next week or so.

I'll let you know when I start again and how it all goes.

Day 11 Again

Okay, back on track!!

No flax granola this morning, instead a rye cracker with almond butter - thinking I like it better than peanut butter.  I just need to get a vitamix and make my own :-) Also had a pear - they are so good right now and cheaper than most fruit in the grocery store.  But don't worry - the flax granola is in the oven, so there will be more tomorrow - HURRAY  - NOT!!

Lunch was sauteed kale with chickpeas, sunflower seeds and diced apple.  Finished off with orange oil.  Just me -- Kevin was busy with campus clean-up day.

Snack is salt-free potato chips.  They don't taste bad, but you do notice the oil taste more without the salt.  Think I like my own better, plus the packaged ones are a bear to find.

Supper is tilapia.  I wish I could have the fish as often as chicken -- I enjoy the fish, the chicken is just kind of blah!!  Tomorrow I'll do pinto beans as a protein - next protein test will be eggs - then I can have a frittata with all the yummy veggies.

Having a hard time with a massive headache today - think it's allergy related.  The book suggests a supplement to help with allergies, thinking I might give it a try.  Water intake still is a struggle.  I just don't think about drinking water, not that I don't like it, just not in the habit of regular drinking.

Weight loss today = .8lbs
Total weight loss = 6.6lbs although I've lost and gained that a couple of times :-)

Going Backwards!!

Okay -- accountability time :-)

I have been doing really well with this eating plan, but on Friday Kevin basically decided he was done - well at least partway.  He would eat what was fixed but was feeling very very free to supplement with whatever he wanted. Because of that I haven't been fixing the entire meals.I haven't eaten anything that wasn't on the plan, just haven't followed it to the letter.  Life has been busy and it's just been crazy so I've decided to go back to day 11.

Day 11 was a rest day, so that will give me a chance to recover from not really eating as well as I should have and then I can move forward on day 12 testing another vegetable and on day 14 I'll test bread again. 

The only downside is more flax granola!!

Day 12 - new vegetable

Today is another test day which means I'm totally going to be religious about what I eat so that there is no question as to a reaction or not.  That also means being very diligent about my water intake -- UGH!!  Still get tired of drinking so much water!!

Breakfast was more flax granola with a yummy yummy red pear!!

Lunch looked interesting - when I made it I wasn't sure it would be good or not, but it turned out pretty good.  Vegetable Timbale -- layer zucchini, red onion, kale, soft crumbly goat cheese, carrots and mushrooms all shredded or thinly sliced.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  It was good, we had it with rye crackers.

Supper was the new vegetable test.  Kevin wanted to try tomatoes, so as the book suggested I got a roma to make a version of chicken parmesan.  I took onions and garlic, sauteed them added some zucchini slices (I had half left over from lunch) and then the diced roma tomato.  Let this simmer for a bit with some italian seasonings and then spooned it over chicken.  It was fairly good.  I'm not a big fan of chicken and we've had lots and lots of it lately.  Can't wait to test a new protein!!  We also had broccoli for supper.  Trying to get in as many veggies as possible today so that the chances of a reaction will decrease.

No such luck -- I gained .8lbs today.  Guess no more tomatoes for a while!!

Day 11

Blessed Sabbath -- what a fantastic day.  I have been feeling better and better and the weather is gorgeous - well minus a few allergy issues. 

Aside --  I have noticed that since I've been doing this plan I haven't had the terrible time with allergies that I normally do.  There is still a bit of itchy eyes and sniffles, but nothing like years past.

We decided to take the girls and go on a picnic - Kevin's first question was "What about our diet??"
That's one of the awesome things about this plan, it's not any weird foods and is flexible enough to accomodate any plans you might have.  I looked at the book, it's a no test day, and the plan for today was a kale salad with salt free potato chips for a snack, so we combined those two -- I made the dressing for the salad, put it in the bottom of a quart jar, added the sauteed kale, chickpeas and apple and we were ready to go.

Off to Deep Creek -- neither one of us had ever been there and wanted to check out the tubing and camping for future reference.  Had our picnic, went hiking, drove and explored, and then headed home.

Supper was supposed to be an approved protein with a vegetable timbale - basically a layered vegetable dish with cheese.  We had eaten a late lunch and weren't that hungry so  I just decided to heat up the leftover vegetable soup and call it good with the addition of a rye cracker.

Weight loss for the day = .6lbs
Total weight loss = 6.6lbs

PS -- If you're looking for salt free potato chips in Asheville, the only place you will find them is Green Life.  Trust me, I went all over Asheville Friday to find them!

Hurray for Pinto Beans!!

Day 10 -- determined to do this day right so there are no questions if I have a reaction to pinto beans or not!!

Breakfast was flax cereal with half an apple - I'm actually liking the rice milk.

Lunch was a new soup recipe.  It actually wasn't that bad - onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini, butternut squash, and kale all mixed with coconut milk, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon. I do have to admit I'm getting a little tired of zucchini -- I don't mind it in little bits, but it gets old for me fast.  I am liking the kale and the butternut squash though.

And finally, for this southern girl, PINTO BEANS!!!  I was so looking forward to them, I wasn't even going to miss the cornbread - it's better eaten with milk anyway :-)

Unfortunately I was terribly disappointed.  They were so salty, it was almost impossible to eat.  At first I wondered if it was because I hadn't eaten much salt the last days, but then the girls had them and they were going on and on how salty they were.  I had been busy in the kitchen and Kevin was helping me, guess I told him way too much to put in :-)

I was a little worried that because of the salt I wouldn't be down as much as  I could, but I still ended up being down .6lbs!

That makes a total of 5.8 lbs so far

Day Nine -- no test

Today is a friendly day which is a good thing considering I woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a mac truck.  My lower body did not want to work.  My toes, ankles, knees and hips were all stiff and protested any movement.

I don't know if it was the bread I ate yesterday -- that was the test and I also gained .2 lbs - but I also have been on my feet a more than lately in the same position frying meatballs and I know my water was messed up as well.  I also ate a couple trays of ice and I know that throws off my gut as well.  I'm not going to totally give up on bread, I will try it again, but for now I'll leave it for Kevin to enjoy :-) Guess it's back to rye crackers for me.

I did the whole flax for breakfast, but today added a little flax nuggets to it.

Lunch was a massive salad with a little bit of cheese - we've discovered we don't like the goat's milk cheddar.

Supper was brown rice, sauteed broccoli and another - yep, you guessed it - salad!!


Good news is that I'm down the .2 lbs and slept very well with no pain :-)

Day Eight -- BREAD

Finally we were all able to get a good night's rest and everyone is back to normal schedule today - meaning my house is blissfully quiet this morning.  Got up with the girls to get them off to school and started a batch of bread - it's now in the oven smelling quite wonderful :-)

Today's test is bread - plain wheat or white.  I figured if I made it myself I would know exactly what went into it and hopefully it would be a little less reactive.  Plus Kevin is so excited about trying bread that I want to give him the best chance of all.

Breakfast - the same old same old - flax granola

Lunch was a salad and then Kevin's coveted piece of bread with goat cheese and avocado.

For supper we had tilapia and zucchini with coco sauce.  Yummy.

Went to bed last night and it was awful -- I was still awake at 2am and for the first time in a week or so I was hurting.  My toes and ankles had aching joints.  Finally I was able to get to sleep, only to awake in pain.  My knees and hips made it painful to get up and down from a sitting position. The scale also showed a slight gain.  Not the average gain that the book says should happen, but I'm thinking the pain is a positive sign of reacting to the wheat.

I'm not going to do bread tomorrow and see if some of this stuff goes away.

Weight gain = .2lbs

Day 7 - no test

So I need to figure my water intake out on the days I'm not at home.  Both days that I've been at the cafe frying meatballs have been my worst loss days - NO, I haven't cheated :-)  But the first day I drank an extra glass and only lost .2 so yesterday I didn't drink any extra and still only lost .2. But hey loss is loss, when it's gone it's gone!!

Breakfast was more flax cereal and pear.

Lunch was pretty ugh -- roasted squash/kale salad with manchego cheese on mixed greens with a rye cracker.

Snack was salt free potato chips - since I couldn't find any local, I made my own.  Sliced them super super thin and fried -- not too bad, but I'm going to find some online and order them.  Or maybe check locally at Green Life.

Supper was kind of uh too - I took the leftover chicken, shredded it, mixed it with some lime juice, cilantro and chia seeds and put that on mixed greens.  We also had lemon garlic broccoli. 

Dessert was the best part -- just plain chocolate!!

Kevin said again today how my skin was just glowing -- I told him it was because I was pregnant!!

Tomorrow is bread and Kevin can't wait!!

Weight loss for today - .2lbs
total loss = 5.2 lbs

No More Flax!!

So now I know how the Biggest Loser contestants feel when they've had a really good week and then hit a 2 or 3 --  that's how I feel about the last couple of days.  .6 and .2 aren't the biggest numbers, especially the .2 -- but I guess it's still a loss.  I'm just trying to figure out why.  I think I may have actually had too much water.  Compensating for a little bit of sweat when I shouldn't have.  Oh well, back on track for today.

Day Six -- New protein - tilapia

So breakfast is the same old, same old, more flax granola -- ugh.  Can't wait until day eight to try a piece of bread so at least I can rotate between toast and flax granola.  At least I get to add some fruit to the granola, otherwise I'd go crazy!!

Lunch was really good -- I'd forgotten how much I enjoy salad.  And I'm not even craving any tomato!!  It was spring greens with grated beets and carrots, pumpkin seeds and chickpeas.  And just a little bit of orange olive oil and lemon juice.

We started late so no snack yesterday -- but supper was tilapia and roasted squash/kale salad.  My girls have enjoyed trying the different cheeses we've been eating.  Hannah likes the goat cheese - Jack was the one we got, while Rachel enjoys the sheep's cheese, both Parmesan and manchego -- although I can't figure out what the difference between the two is, maybe aging period.

For dessert last night, we had apple and pear slices drizzled with chocolate and then sprinkled with chia seeds. Well some of us had chia seeds - Kevin laughed when I put the chia seeds on  - he said it was funny to eat healthy food with chocolate :-)

I've started to tell a difference -- while we were sitting at the table, Kevin kept looking at me and finally I'm like "what?"  He said you look different, it's not your hair.  Finally he said my skin looked different and then I went and looked in the mirror.  I thought my jawline was tighter, so I started feeling it (as a massage therapist, touch is better than sight for me!) and sure enough, both my jawline and my neck feel much less puffy.  My mom is coming up here on Friday, it will be two weeks since I've seen her, be interesting to see if she notices anything.

Weight loss today = .6lbs
total weight loss = 5 lbs

Day Five -- Rye

Today was a good day -- I ate so much that I was full all day long!!  It's crazy to think I can eat and still the 1/2 lbs come off :-)

I made more flax granola last night -- this time I cooked it to death, well not really, but instead of only cooking it the suggested 50 minutes I cooked it for 2 1/2 hrs.  It made the flax crunchy instead of having soggy mushy spots.  Definitely much more palatable.  And the rice milk is way way better than coconut milk.

Lunch was super yummy - just a big salad with carrots, avocado, pumpkin seeds and Jack goat's cheese.  I added a little cilantro and fresh lemon just for fun.  We also had rye crackers with it.

Supper was yum too!  A chicken breast with apricot glaze (apricot jam with water, ground ginger and cumin) baked in the oven for a while and then I took some red onion, sliced it real thin, sauteed it with a little olive oil, added some kale and then once it was done topped it with sheep's milk parmesan.  I served it separately, but I decided to shred the chicken and mix it all together on my plate.  Delicious!!

Drank all of my water today and even added 16 oz because I spent 2 1/2 hrs in the cafe frying 475 meatballs for alumni wknd.  Upside of that is we're halfway done with the meatballs and still have two weeks until alumni!  Hurray for planning ahead.

weight loss for the day = .2 ugh....but still a loss

Hurray for Chocolate!!

Day Four -- For Kevin this was a good day because of  cheese, for me it was ALL about the CHOCOLATE!!  Dark chocolate at that :-)

Food today was pretty good -- I went Friday and got some Rice Dream -- it was way better than coconut milk.  I was also able to find some flax cereal that met the guidelines -- sweetened with, of all things, raisin juice!!

The combination of this cereal and the rice milk made
breakfast easier this morning.  I did look online and managed to
find this cereal much cheaper than the grocery store.  So if it's
something you want to add to your plan, I suggest finding it online.

For lunch we had a yummy salad of mixed greens with warm sauteed veggies on top, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and Jack cheese made out of goat's milk. I didn't know until a couple of days ago that you could find goat cheese in any form other than the soft log type.  This cheese was really good - added a little bit of salt - the first salt in a few days.

Snack was homemade carrots and hummus.

And for supper -- more salad, broccoli, and chicken with a really good salsa.  The salsa was cucumber, mango, red onion and cilantro with a little lime juice and cumin to season.  I chopped everything (especially the onions) super small and it was really good on top of the chicken.

Finally -- CHOCOLATE -- 1 oz.  Amazed at how much 1 oz was - I almost couldn't finish it -- seriously, I would have been good with 3/4 of an ounce -- but it was a nice treat.

Kevin is looking forward to day 5 - he gets crackers.  He's missed the salt much more than I.

I am actually enjoying the food, but will say that it feels like I'm in the kitchen all day - now granted some of that is my fault because I'm not making extra's so there are enough for leftovers -- I'd rather cook it two days in a row instead of heating up in the microwave -- plus our microwave is on the fritz - only took 13 years!  I'm trying to decide if I want to replace it - we really don't use it that much.  Anyway, it's cooking, cleaning, then fixing a snack, then cooking again.  It would be a bit harder if I were working - but still possible to do.

Today was the big test of cheese -- we'll see how it goes with weight .....

Update -- I think my body is a little slow kicking in with the cleansing process. I was so tired that I ended up sleeping almost 14 hrs today and was grumpy when I woke up.  I felt extremely cranky for a couple of hours but that did pass. 

Weight loss for the day = .6lbs
total weight loss = 4.2 lbs

Not as much as previous days, but still on the losing side :-)

Day Three

Still going strong -- today was a little different than the exact plan.  Both Kevin and I are having a super hard time with breakfast, not sure if it's the flax granola or the coconut milk.  But, seeing as I didn't have any different milk, I decided to do something other than flax.  I took some of the leftover brown rice from supper, heated it up, added a bit of coconut milk, some nutmeg and cinnamon and then served it with diced pear and sprinkled some of the flax granola on it.  Much much easier to eat breakfast.

Lunch was a salad with chickpeas -- YUMMY!!

Supper needed a little work - it was a small chicken breast with orange zest and italian herbs - not bad but the chicken needed some help.  I cooked it according to directions - just putting it in the oven for 20 minutes -- tomorrow I will go back to cooking the chicken my way (within the seasoning limitations) and then covering it with the salsa when it's done.

The sauteed veggies were really good though and I'm finding the beet/carrot salad to be among my favorites.

Funny how the couple of things I was most worried about not liking are turning out to be a favorite.

Weight loss for today = 1.2 lbs
Total weight loss = 3.6 lbs

And tomorrow we get to have chocolate!!

Day Two - still going strong

So day two wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - mostly because I was so busy I didn't have time to think about what I was eating or spend any time in the kitchen.  The menu was the same except that we added a handful of almonds to the mid afternoon snack and supper had brown rice with the kale. 

I did feel like my body was trying to get rid of toxins -- my legs started itching and once I scrubbed them down in the shower they felt better, I also had a bit of a butterfly rash on my cheeks.  Plus I felt really warm all day.

Weight loss for the day = 1.2 lbs again

Total weight loss = 2.4lbs

Not bad, almost 2 1/2 lbs in 2 days!!

The "anti-diet"

Day One --

A good friend told me about this cool book she started reading and I was instantly intrigued.  The idea is that the foods we eat react with our individual body chemistry and even some of the "healthy" foods can cause inflammation -- which in turn causes all sorts of disease.  Suffering from an auto-immune disease, inflammation is second nature to me, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was so interested, I got the book on Kindle and then the next day went out and bought the actual hold in your hands copy :-)  I just can't seem to get the hang of finding what I want on the Kindle, no flipping through the pages.  Did a lot of reading, got some of the foods and yesterday actually started "the plan."  Did I say how awesome it is that Kevin agreed to do it with me!!!!

Here's the link if you're interested -- The Plan

So day one starts with weighing yourself (on a digital scale), drinking 16 oz of water and taking a liver detox supplement.  Then 45 minutes later, it's breakfast time!!  Flax granola (just flax, water, cinnamon, and vanilla) with blueberries and unsweetened coconut milk.  Lunch was pretty good - carrot ginger soup, steamed broccoli with orange oil, and mixed greens with a diced pear.  Snack -- finally something normal, just an apple.  Supper was steamed kale with a turmeric coconut sauce and shredded beet carrot salad with pumpkin seeds.

I honestly thought the beet/carrot salad was going to be the hardest thing to eat with the kale coming in a close second -- was I ever wrong.  Both were delicious!!! Breakfast was by far the hardest thing to get down.  Luckily, in a few days I can switch that up a bit.

Good news is that I didn't feel hungry, didn't have any cravings and am down 1.2 lbs.