Day 5 to Day 19 - Maybe she did Kill All Things!

Hello Whole30er's!  Relax, I am NOT in jail serving out a life sentence for Killing all things.  But I will say, life has been super crazy and busy.  So I will do a little summary/recap for you on the last several weeks.

End  of Week 1 - We ended week 1 surprisingly pretty well.  I definitely realized that I was not nearly as prepared as I thought I was or  needed to be.  I did menu plan, but I didn't really do much meal prep and found myself scrambling to get food prepared for lunches and dinner.  I honestly wasn't really keeping track of what our meals were so I can't really do a recap on that, but starting in Week 2 I actually laid it all out and will share those as we go on.  So Week 1 ended with us all still on board, some of us willingly and some of us still fighting tooth and nail, but we made it through week 1.

Week 2 - I think we HATE EGGS!  There are really only so many things you can do with eggs when they are the main focus of a meal, and let me be real with you...unless they are cooked up in a decadent custard or cake, we were all pretty much hating eggs!  So it was time to start getting a little creative, because we just aren't the have a steak or fish for breakfast type of people.  We still did eggs almost every morning, but we did Egg Muffins, I made another Frittata, and we had poached eggs as well.  Making sure to pair these with other veggies and/or fruit really helps, so we had a couple of meals with roasted potatoes and smoked sausage and the girls and I had Chia Pudding one morning with fresh fruit which helped break up the egg cycle.  Lunches were pretty basic/boring, grilled chicken, turkey bacon avocado rollups, salad or leftover dinners.  Dinners were also nothing spectacular this week.  We did a repeat of the Baby Back Ribs with Whole30 BBQ sauce, pork chops, a grilled steak, and we tried salmon over zoodles which were pretty good, the fish unfortunately was so thin it left us still hungry but we survived.  We also did a weight check this week which I know we are not suppose to, but everyone was feeling a bit over this whole thing and we needed a little encouragement.  The results have been amazing.  Everyone has lost weight, although I  am feeling like my girls need to take a back seat to some of this because I really don't want them loosing any more, but the rest of us are still full steam ahead.

Week 3 - In week 2 although I had a better meal prep and planning routine, I actually ran out of food by Friday, so I had  2 days that  were unprepared.  Hit the store for Friday night dinner and Saturday morning breakfast and realized I need to make sure I buy enough to last us the week.  When you think about it, I am basically preparing 15 meals a day (5 of us x 3 meals a day), that is a lot of time in the kitchen and requires a lot of food.  So I went into this week's grocery shopping fully prepared for the amount of food I would need to buy.  I was not however prepared for the stares and comments from the other shoppers about how much meat and produce I had in my cart.  I found it mildly entertaining though as I am placing  my 6 dozen eggs on the belt and all the veggies.  There was not 1 sugar, grain, gluten, or dairy item to be seen which made me feel really good as I looked around and saw people buying sodas, candy, and sugary cereals. This week felt like I hit Food Freedom.  I wasn't being compelled to buy those things, didn't even want them really.  I was encouraged by all the fresh veggies and fruits I was putting on the belt and knew that these items are making me healthy.  I made an amazing Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin which literally fell apart in your mouth, found an amazing way to create the idea of Nachos (approved plaintain chips replaced the actual nacho), a pretty yummy breakfast skillet  meal (yes with eggs), and some very yummy marinated pork chops.  We are ending this week with Homecoming for my girls.  They went to the homecoming game with friends and the remaining 3 of us when out to dinner...2nd time on this journey which was okay.  My meal was suppose to be on plan (1/2lb of Prime Rib, deviled eggs, potato salad), but half way through, I could feel something wasn't sitting well.  So I only ate the meat thinking that something was in the mixture for the potato salad and eggs that was not jiving with the plan.  It did shock me however, that the reaction was so quick, now I worry that I will never be able to find a restaurant that will offer me the ability to not cook once in a while.

So now we are heading into week 4 and as I sit and plan out our menu and my grocery list, I feel a little unsure of what the weeks ahead will be like.  The last 3 have definitely showed me that the crap we were eating was making us unhealthy, but nervous about how to add things back into our lives and still maintain a healthy eating life style.  So check back in later in the week for an update on our final week and maybe I will have a clue on how I am going to handle life after Whole30!

Day 4 Kill all things...

When I read the book, I thought this section was particularly funny.  I mean really, kill all things?  The lack of sugar, dairy, grains & gluten will be so severe that you are at this point?  Okay, enter day 4...YES, I WANT TO KILL ALL THINGS.  The traffic taking my kids to school, forgetting to get the birthday gift for my co-worker, having to wear my flip flops to work because I couldn't find my ballet flats and this is all before 9am.  How is this possible.  I can't even think straight, the kids are arguing, the dog wont come in from outside, and I am SWEATING like you wouldn't believe.   PLEASE LORD HELP ME THROUGH THIS DAY!

With all that said, while yes, I was a bit extra overwhelmed and sensitive, the day really ended up being okay.  I did a repeat of the Chia Pudding (since I made enough of it to feed an army) and the Chicken Cacciatore for breakfast and lunch and then with carpooling, dentist appointments, etc, it was time to get dinner before I even knew it. But wait...I didn't plan for the dentist taking so long and now I need to throw something together in a hurry.  My daughter mentioned that she was craving Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese sammys, okay the grilled cheese does sound really good, but not on plan.  While sitting in the dentists office, I googled Paleo Tomato Soup and found an amazing and super quick recipe from Paleo Comfort Foods.  I couldn't believe how quickly this soup came together, and you would have never guessed it was Whole30 approved.  So good! I paired the soup with some hamburger patties (not burgers) and sliced avocado and tomatoes.  Only had a little rebellion from the little one without the bun, so we decided that we couldn't call them burgers, hence the "patties" in the description. 

So thankfully, day 4 ended without me actually Killing all things, but boy I thought it was going to be close a couple of times.  I feel like I am starting to get into a rythm and by Week 2 I should have this food prep/planning down to a science.  Come on Day 5, I am ready for you!

#Whole30, #Septemberwhole30, #paleo, #dairyfree, #budhaifamilychallenge, #onamission

Day 3

6:30 felt like it came a little early today :o(.  Everyone went to bed fairly happy and satisfied which I was thankful for.  I didn’t do much meal prep the night before due to the need to eat up the leftovers so I felt pretty confident going into the rush of the morning.  I did make a Chia Pudding (1/2cup Chia Seeds, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup water; mix in a mason jar and refrigerate overnight, makes at least 6, ½ cup servings) that I had for breakfast with a half of a banana (the pudding is a little crunchy/hard until you heat for about 10 seconds).  My over all mood is okay, but I am still feeling unprepared.  I thought I had planned the menu well enough for the week, but I am running out of fruits and veggies, and my god the eggs.  So done with the eggs and it is only Day 3!  Hence the Chia Pudding, I just needed something other than eggs and I just can’t get on board with having left over lunch and dinner for breakfast.  Anyway, Chia Pudding for me, the kids and hubby had eggs with a few cuts of turkey sausage (Whole30 approved) which they really liked.

Lunches for the kids consisted of Grilled Chicken salad with the basic mayo, apple slices with a scoop of Almond Butter or Raspberries with a handful of nuts and roasted veggies from the other night.

Lunch for me was left over Chicken Cacciatore from Day 2 and Hubby had leftover Pork Chops from Day 1 both with Roasted Veggies.

Dinner was Baby Back Ribs with the W30 Tangy BBQ sauce which really wasn’t a sauce as much as a spread?  I think I if I had diluted it a bit more it would have been a bit smoother, but the taste was really good.  I chose to leave out the chipotle pepper because we just are fans, but overall, the sauce was really yummy.  I paired the ribs with some saute’d cabbage which was also a big hit (except for my son…just not winning in this department).

And to make this post even longer, a little background on the whys for doing Whole30.  I mentioned in my opening post the basic reasons, but the true underlying reason is really to help my son understand the importance of eating good food and how the processed foods affect him.  Although not officially diagnosed, my husband and I are pretty sure he has a form of ADD or ADHD and at times his behavior is really bad and becomes very unmanageable.  I am not thrilled with the idea of putting him on medication, and I have read that certain dyes and foods really trigger symptoms.  It doesn’t help that he is NOT active and weighs almost 200lbs at the age of 12.  I am just sick that I as parent allowed and even contributed to his current state.  In comes Whole30 and a way to make the entire family understand what these processed foods do to us.

**Edited:  Hubby didn’t actually eat any of the food I packed for him…skipped breakfast and had to order lunch for a business meeting and ended up have a salad.

Day 2

It’s 6:30am and the alarm goes off, dog is in my face panting.  Up I go, feel pretty good (as mentioned yesterday, I had already started transitioning us to the NO, NO’s) so not really having the “hang-over” yet.  But boy do I have a ton of things to do this morning.  Kids are back to school so I need to get their lunches packed, breakfast made for all 5 of us and mine and hubby’s lunches packed too.  Oh dang, I have to feed the dogs too, but I can’t get into the sink to get them fresh water because all my prep dishes from last night didn’t make it into the already full dishwasher, which HASN’T BEEN RUN! Ok, deep breath…I can do this.  My biggest challenge today is how to get veggies into my son.  

Breakfast for the girls and hubby:  Egg omelet with Spinach, mushrooms, chopped ham & tomatoes cooked in a tablespoon of Ghee (we love this stuff and hit makes the house smell so good)

Breakfast for the boy – same as above, minus the mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes, SIGH

Breakfast for me – 2 hardboiled eggs, an apple and coffee with Coconut Cream from Trader Joes

Lunches for the girls:  Slices of Bacon and avocado rolled up in Turkey Slices or chicken tenders with mayo and apple slices with almond butter

Lunch for the boy: Grilled chicken nuggets with mayo dipping sauce, cut up strawberries and banana (extra banana for snack if he feels really hungry before lunch)

Lunch for me and the hubs: Grilled Chicken on a bed of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, spring onions and blueberries.  Hubby has a lemon/mayo dressing and I will have mine plain.

Dinner for all was Chicken Cacciatore from the Whole30 book.  Threw in some green beans and then roasted some potatoes serve on the side.  Have enough left over for lunch for me tomorrow.

Our successes:  Everyone seemed to do okay – no one hit the low energy  or lack of sugar slump.  Even Hubby felt satisfied, not really digging the water only for drinks though.  Still trying to sell me on the Diet Snapple.

Our failures:  My oldest daughter before she even started her day found a chocolate in her backpack that her friend gave her the other day and with out even thinking popped it in her mouth and ate it.  When I quickly reminded her what she had just done, she was so disappointed in herself and was thankful that she hadn’t done that on day 15 or 20 since she had to start all over.

Day 1

Happy Labor Day!  Day 1 of the September Whole30 did not go as I had planned.  9:00am we had a great breakfast; 2eggs, homefries and bacon. 

What a great way to start the day right?  Well…hubby is looking for his toast, my son is asking for pancakes and syrup, the girls are telling me they can’t eat all of this.  REALLY! It is only the first meal on the first day!  Oh, not to mention, my husband drops a spoonful of sugar in this coffee before he sits down.  WAIT, YOU CAN’T DRINK THAT!  UGHHH, this is going to be an interesting day.  Noon rolls around, and everyone is looking for something to eat, but I didn’t plan on anything at noon.  We are going to my sisters for a BBQ at 2, what can I give everyone to tied them over.  Everyone is looking for sugar, something quick, snacks, munchies, etc.  CRAP, I don’t have anything for them to snack on.  I have a bowl of hardboiled eggs, some cut up veggies, but all I get is grumbling, “oh great, more eggs”, “I don’t want veggies.”  So I do what any good mother would do…”FINE, EAT WHAT EVER YOU WANT!” as I storm out of the room and upstairs to find some non-complaining time. I know, not one of my shining moments.  Miraculously, everyone grabbed an egg to tied them over and came upstairs to thank me for trying to help them be healthy. 

We were on track to have a great BBQ lunch, with grilled chicken, burgers, fruit salad, and a yummy butternut squash salad, until my son realized that he couldn’t have a bun with his burger or the traditional ketchup he is use to, and a mini melt down begins which would make the average person think I was trying to starve my almost 200lb child.  However, one look at his plate and you can clearly see that he had plenty to eat.  All he has to do is let go of all the things he thinks he is missing which is what he spends most of his time reminding me.  What he doesn’t realize is that before I announced we were doing the Whole30, I was already slowly incorporating the meals into his diet and he hadn’t missed those things until now. 

Anyway, the afternoon continued without much more drama, we got home, kids finished up the last of their laundry and homework while I hung out in the kitchen doing more meal prep.  (Side note, I didn’t realize how much time I would be spending in there and definitely need one of those squishy kitchen mats to stand on).

Dinner was amazing…we had Seared Pork chops with roasted veggies (my new favorite way to eat them) and I made this killer sauce.  Using the cooking fat from the Pork Chops, I threw in half of a Red Onion, some minced garlic, cut up mushrooms, a little water, salt and pepper and 2 teaspoons of Coconut cream to thicken it up.  The kids loved it and we actually had a very enjoyable meal until it was clean up time ;o).  My son and I followed up dinner with a nice 20 min walk with the dogs, who I realize needed the exercise too. Thankfully, no one went to bed hungry, no one went to bed angry, and sadly, no one was really excited about the days ahead…

September Whole30

We as a family have embarked on a challenge called the Whole30 created by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig.  In an effort to help get us all healthy (2 overweight adults, 1 overweight preteen boy, and 2 perfect weight teenage girls with terrible eating habits), I researched numerous diets and plans, and the bottom line was I wanted my family to eat real food.  Just to give you a little background, we typically have home cooked meals, I make breakfast and I pack the kids lunches for school and we have a family meal for dinner.  However, when I really looked at what we were eating, or rather not eating, I realized that a lot of what I was preparing was convenience food, and who knows what my husband was consuming at lunch even when he tried to eat right.  Our foods consisted of protein, starches and veggies, but the kids didn’t really eat the appropriate portion of veggies, and snack foods galore.

My 12 year old son is really struggling with his weight.  He is obese by medical standards and like a lot of inactive kids, spends a lot of time on the computer watching Youtube.  I try to make changes to his diet only to find a stash of snack bar wrappers or bowls with the remnants of some sugary cereal.  OMG, I AM THE PROBLEM!  I am slowly trying to kill my family, one meal at a time.  I am the one who does the grocery shopping, I am the one who brings these high sodium, high calories, low nutritional items into the house.  Regardless of whether I give it to them, I am making them available by buying them.  As my son’s weight continues to soar into the pre-diabetic range, I feel like I have completely failed to teach him how to eat. 

Fast forward several plans, diets, and months later I found Whole30.  Oh boy, this isn’t going to be easy…no sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no grains, no BREAD, NO BREAD, NO BREAD!  Some how I miraculously convinced everyone that we needed to do this 30 day challenge.  It can’t be that difficult, right? Boy was I wrong.  I have to remember, that committing to do this was my thing, and while they agreed to do this for all of us, none of them have really made the commitment themselves, which will make the transition very hard for them.  I will say that preparation is KEY.  Without preparation there will be limited success, but September here we come…

#septemberwhole30, #whole30, #cleaneating, #needtoloseweight, #c3planning, #budhaifamilychallenge, #onamission, #endchildhoodobesity