Day Three

Overview of Day One

• Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with bacon, onions, mushroom; 1 cup of Good Earth decaf tea
• Lunch:  Brasa pulled pork & yuca with chiles and lime; Green smoothie with spinach, carrot juice, strawberries, 1 banana and some raspberries
• Snack: less than a handful of raisins while at the mall
• Dinner: Salad with tomatoes, onions, olives and 1 hard boiled egg; 1 cup of Ginger Zucchini Soup w/ cinnamon
• Dessert: Cherry Pie Lara Bar (meh); a cup of coffee with a smidge of coconut milk

The Details
Awoke with energy and not feeling too hungry again.  Overall, I do still think about delicious treats.  I know I don't need it and I know I can do this for 30 days.  Still doesn't mean homemade cinnamon rolls or chocolate chip cookies aren't amazing though.

Breakfast was pretty simple.  The eggs were close to expiring so I threw together a mish mash of whatever we had in the fridge.  Probably would have been even tastier with some homemade salsa.

Later in the day, I went on a mission.  In helping a friend look for wedding garb, we went to the mall.  First attempt was to Mall of America but after we saw the line of traffic to exit to the mall, we skipped out.  After a few stores we wandered to the south end of Southdale.  Delicious, freshly baked waffle cones filled the air.  Man, those waffle cones smelled delicious!  But, I've always thought that and I never buy an ice cream cone when I'm out.    I snacked on a few raisins but overall, wasn't too hungry.

For dinner, I decided to try the Ginger Zucchini Soup recipe I found online.  Very easy soup to make and was ready within 30 minutes.  The only problem was that it was pretty bland, even when I accidentally put double the amount of ginger in the soup (I halved the recipe but not the ginger).  It still tasted like something was missing.  It wasn't a fully body soup like I'm used to making....and I'm just talking about chicken stock soups.  I did a little research and decided to put some cinnamon in there.  Why not try something new?  Turns out - it was better.  It doesn't compare to my butternut squash soup I make but it was better.

Links to recipes:

• Check out delicious and amazing Brasa menu!
• Ginger Zucchini Soup

Day Two

Overview of Day One

Breakfast: 1 egg, 2 slices bacon, 1 cup of coffee w/ a teeny bit of coconut milk
Snack: Apple

Lunch: Chipotle Salad (chicken, green peppers & onions, hot salsa, corn)
Snack: handful of raisins, Green Tea

Dinner: 1/4 of T-Bone steak, Cucumber Salad, Banana Bread Larabar & cup of coffee

The Details
Last night I wasn't even hungry after practice!  And when I woke up today, I wasn't really hungry either.  So, with the foods I'm eating - I'm satisfied!

Well today I learned just how difficult it is to eat out when on the Whole 30 journey.  Not impossible but it does require a lot of diligence in asking how things are prepared.  I didn't expect to go out twice today but after a meeting, we ended up going to lunch at Chipotle.  It was the first time in my life that I haven't had sour cream or cheese (or a tortilla) on my Chipotle order.  I also didn't get chips like usual.  I think that has been one of the most challenging aspects so far.....I really like to eat thin, crunchy things - croutons, crackers, chips, etc.  I know that I can eat nuts or fresh vegetables that have a crunch to them but it's just not the same.  Despite this, lunch was pretty awesome!

I also had happy hour plans.  My friend was great about asking where I might be able to eat so I chose a restaurant that offers grass-fed beef and sweet potatoes.  After asking many questions about how the burger was prepared or if it contained any additives, I then found myself asking how the sweet potato fries were prepared.  Turns out that while the burgers contained no additives the sweet potato fries are cooked in canola oil.  Since I had just consumed chipotle a few hours before, I wasn't really that hungry.  My friend got regular french fries and they definitely looked delicious but I refrained.  I can't imagine

Despite my ongoing desire for a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, I'm not too sad about cutting out dairy yet.  I don't really have headaches, which is a great thing, but overall I'm just tired.  I'm not sure if that's because I've had a crazy week or if I'm getting sick.

I researched how to make homemade Larabars so I can save some cash.  Check out my pinterest page for the recipes!  New experiment for tomorrow!

Overall, not too bad of a day.....just want a really long nap.

Links to recipes:

• Israeli Tomato Cucumber Salad

Day One

Spring Break 2013!  It's a good thing Heather and I are doing this before we head back to school.  It gives us the opportunity to work out the sugar craze kinks before having to interact with students!

Overview of Day One

Breakfast: Green Smoothie, Good Earth Original Decaf Tea

Lunch: Mixed Greens salad with tomatoes, onions and olives w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette (BV) Dressing,  Apple Pie Lara Bar; coffee w/ a teaspoon of coconut milk; 1 hard boiled egg; 2 slices of bacon

Dinner: 1/2 of T-Bone steak, Sweet Potato Coins, asparagus spears

The Details
Day one - woke up a little later than usual.  Had to run out the door for an appointment, so for breakfast I made a green smoothie with carrot juice, frozen spinach cubes, strawberries, bananas and blueberries.  Not my best effort but still bearable.  I didn't really have the time to make it taste better, I was already running late - so tomorrow will just need to be better.

Side note: before I left for home last week, the fresh spinach was on the verge of going bad.  So, I pureed the spinach with a little bit of water and froze it in ice cube trays.  From what I've read online because put in 4-6 cubes.  I found that for my beginner tastes, I didn't prefer that much.

On my way home, I stopped by Trader Joe's and Whole Foods again.  I've been struggling to find bacon and sausage without added sugars and other things.  Whole Foods didn't even have it.  :(  So, I'm using up the rest of the bacon we have on hand in the next few days so we aren't wasteful.  I have checked into buying our meat from reputable, local sustainable farmers and I think we've found one!  I'm guessing their products will be better than what we can find in the store.

Side note: If you ever need to find local, organic farmers for your area - check out www.eatwild.com 

When I got back from the appointment, I was hungry.  I nibbled on some of the Tomato Cucumber Salad as I put together the taco seasoning and vinaigrette dressing that I planned on using for my lunch. After the salad, I was still a little hungry so I tried a hardboiled egg I had just made and an Apple Pie Lara Bar.  Seriously....that larabar is like crack.  SO DELICIOUS.

For dinner, the lovely manfriend picked up some steaks on his way home from work.  I made some asparagus spears and some sweet potato coins.  Made a handful of them with sprinkled cinnamon on top - what a lovely little treat. Most of them, I just ground some fresh salt and pepper on top.  Delish.  

Tonight I have rollerderby practice.  Typically, when I come home I eat a little cereal (my favorite is Cinnamon Toast Crunch) .  Definitely not the best post-exercise snack option but in truth, it just relaxed me at the end of the day.  Tonight I'll have to pack an apple.

Links to recipes:

• Israeli Tomato Cucumber Salad
• Taco Seasoning

Mission Preparation

Like any good solider, one must be prepared as much as possible for a mission.  Today, I stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up some pantry items to kick off the Whole 30 the right way!

Not going to lie - I'd like nothing more than to eat a chimichanga, margarita and chips and salsa tonight.

For the Last Supper, I ended up meeting Nina out to have calamari, wontons, fresh spring rolls, and a glass of wine.  I'm a little sad that during this Whole 30 I can't have any sort of rice products, including rice paper.

I think it's going to not be more difficult than I had hoped.

It's almost here.

Less than 48 hours until I embark on this new adventure called "The Whole 30".  A little nervous.  A lot more excited than nervous though.  Hopeful I won't become a crazy pants the first few days while my body detoxes from 30+ years of sugar love.  Hopeful that my hubby can still put up with me after the first five days and won't want to throw me off our 3rd floor patio.  Determined to make this work.

After having come across this lifestyle shift, I've been way more mindful about what's in my food.  If you are diligent in looking at your labels, you'll find that there is a ridiculous amount added sugars and preservatives that none of us need.  Good lord - it's difficult to find wholesome food that comes in any packaging.  Pretty certain it doesn't exist.

Being back home in Wisconsin the last couple of days, I've been hanging out with Maggie.  She's on a mild strain of the Whole 30 - something like the "17 day diet".  She's allowed a lot more freedom though than the Whole 30 - sweeteners, cheese, yogurt and after the initial 17 days - grains!  I tried to convince her to just do the Whole 30 with me but my persuasive powers did not work.  Looks like Heather and I are going to be the only two on this adventure this time around and that's fine with me.

I've stocked up on some of the essential pantry ingredients....now I just need to find some grass fed meat.

See you in 48 hours.

Getting to this point.

Thanks to some awesome parenting, I've always firmly believed in mind over matter.  That I am able to accomplish whatever goals I set for myself.  Problem is there are just some things that I've had no desire to set a goal for; case in point - running.  

Years ago, I despised running unless it somehow included a ball of some sorts - basketball, volleyball, hell - even soccer, despite the massive amounts of running in that game.  To me, running for endless miles just seemed so boring.  Perhaps part of the reason was because I had always been involved in team sports so competition was enjoyable to me.  Running against no one except myself and scoring no "points" didn't seem like fun.  

That being said, I ran when I had to off the court.  I could easily do the mile run in junior high and high school.  I didn't enjoy it but the need to finish within a 12 minute time frame added a "competitive" element.  I think I may have even ran a mile under 7:30.  I couldn't understand how other kids could run a mile in under six minutes.  At the time, that seemed insane.  At that time, three miles felt like I was running across America - so I didn't do it.  I just kept playing team sports and training when I had to. 

Until I met, Leann.  She taught with me at my first school.  Everyday about 8-10 of us would sit in the cafeteria with the students, eating our lunch together and playing the M&M game.  She was getting certified as a Personal Trainer.  One day, she tried to convince all of us to register for the Twin Cities Marathon.  I told her I HATED running, that there was no point in just running for miles and miles and running 26.2 of them seemed RIDICULOUS.  

Somehow, I decided that it would be a good idea to prove myself wrong.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could accomplish a goal even if I didn't like it. So, I signed up for the marathon, bought two pairs of running shoes and stuck to my training regime every day as outlined by Leann.  We even did cross training and hill running as part of the training and when Leann said jump I asked how high because I had this massive goal to reach.  

I lived near Lake Calhoun at the time and since it was summer break, I soon found it enjoyable to be out in the summer sun (with loads of sunscreen for my glaring white skin).  Half way through training, I realize that running wasn't so bad, after all.   Maybe it was all that Vitamin D making me happier and healthier.  I still didn't like running three miles but my body felt really good running six to twelve miles.  Odd, I know but that's what my body enjoyed the most.  

During that summer, I not only trained for the marathon but hiked about half of the Superior Hiking Trail and tried out for (and made) rollerderby.  It was a big summer and I felt on top of the world physically.  I completed the TC Marathon in Fall 2007.   I didn't make it in the time goal I had wanted due to an impending injury but I finished and the sweeper truck didn't catch me.  I finished in 5:15 - I was going for 4:30 or less.  

I went to hating to run even one mile to really enjoying 26.2 and I proved to myself that my mental fortitude can drastically impact my life.

Which brings me to why I started this blog.

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE baking and learning.  I teach a college-articulated Baking and Pastry course to high school students.  Baking is so much of a science, it's awesome to test out theories and to identify how ingredients impacted the final product.  It's like a scientific puzzle.  Cooking is much less of a precise science so while I enjoy cooking, I find myself not AS excited about it as baking.  

In any case, every day we have fresh cookies in our house or some other baked treat.  I see this mostly as experiments for my own classroom.  I wanted to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie and I did.  As a culinary arts teacher, I am fully aware of what I should be eating and why but again - I just really find chocolate chip cookies delicious (as well as a wide assortment of baked goods!)

Lately, I've noticed that my gut starts hurting when I eat and that my eczema has flared up.  At first, I attributed this to my derby gear.  However, I wash my derby gear frequently but I can't wash my skates.  Since it's near the end of my career, spending another $200 on gear seems a little crazy.  I went to a natural doctor who helped me get back on the nutrition track with a variety of basic supplements.  My gut stopped hurting as much but the eczema is still lingering.  Yes,  I could go to the dermatologist like I have in the past and be prescribed a steroid cream.  However, that's not so great for your body over the long-term either.  I wanted to have more control (direct) over my health.

Having read a lot about how diet is one of the main contributors of eczema, I was determined to find a way to naturally rid myself of whatever the hell was causing my flare up.  Which brings me to my new challenge, probably more challenging than running a marathon: I'm going to turn my diet upside down and really focus on putting stuff in my body that's of the earth and not of a machine (processed).

I've never really been excited about vegetables but as I've gotten older, I've introduced a lot more into my diet.  Not nearly enough as I should be consuming but it's a process - much like most things in life.  I don't see this challenge as a weight-loss journey or a "dieting fad".  I see this challenge as a way for my body to reset expectations of how poorly I've treated it over the 32 years and find a new balance on how I want eat for the rest of my life.      

This challenge/goal will last 30 days and I'm hopeful both my gut and eczema will like me after that.  After the 30 days, I'll probably start re-introducing foods back into my diet to see what had adverse effects on my skin and gut.   I firmly believe that most things are okay in moderation so I'm not one to wipe out an entire genre of foods.  So I don't expect this new endeavor to be easy.  But for 30 days I will do it and I will succeed because I don't like to let myself down.  

I'll be scouring http://whole9life.com/, pinterest and talking with my very good friend Jordyn about recommendations to make this an enjoyable experience.

This blog will catalog my journey and quest to be healthier.

I've gotta start somewhere and that place is here.

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens – and when it happens, it lasts.”

-- Coach John Wooden