Final Paleo Challenge Update

Colorado got hit with so much snow yesterday!  We probably got between 10 and 12 inches!!

So, as I sit here drinking coffee out of my favorite mug (Thank you Sutton!).  I thought I would right a little about what I learned while eating paleo and how I am moving forward now.

Like I kind of said before, I started noticing that as I ate certain things, I didn't feel so good.   So here is a the good and the bad from the last thirty-ish days.

Good:

1. Much less bloated!  You know how you feel so full after eating sometimes?  I didn't feel like then when eating straight paleo.
2. So much nutrition.  Every food I ate was a fruit, vegetable, or protein.  And we ate so many vegetables, that was the staple at each meal.
3. Grocery shopping was a lot easier, you just went to four areas of the store, the meat, produce, cans, and where the nuts and seeds are kept.
4. We didn't have to calorie check or watch what we ate at all, and we ate a ton of food every day.  Neither of us gained weight, Michael actually lost some (I stayed the same), but I can tell you that I hardly ever thought about food or how much I was eating, which is so freeing.  Otherwise you are always eyeing the brownies going, "I really shouldn't eat that", or "I'll have to run 10 minutes extra so I can eat this."  I really hate doing that.
5. Performed much better at endurance activities.  Usually when I ski, or hike or something like that which takes hours, I feel constantly hungry and hit a wall.  I didn't feel like that at all while eating like this.  I felt like my blood sugar was much more stable.
6. I realized some other foods I am sensitive to, another step in the right direction to helping me feel the best I can.

Bad:

1. Grocery bill is a little more expensive.  Eating so much produce and buying quality meat can be pricey.  Carbs like bread and pasta are so cheap!  
2. I spent a lot of time cooking.  It was hard to just have something quick on hand for dinner.  Most meats and vegetables take prep time unless we were going to have salad every night, which would still involve having cooked meat on hand.
3. Hard to eat out and hard to travel.  This is really difficult and I'm not sure if this will ever get easier.  When I ate out, most of the time I would walk out feeling full and bloated, no matter how paleo my meal.  Maybe I'll get better at asking restaurants how they prepare things.
4. Didn't perform as well for short, intense physical exercise, I would get muscle cramps or just feel like I couldn't go anymore.  This makes sense, I didn't have as much glucose in my system so I need to remember that if I will be doing more intense, short duration exercises (hour bike ride at a hard pace or sprints), I need to eat some healthy carbs like fruit or maybe some gluten free grains before. 
5. I realized some other foods I am sensitive to.  This was a good and bad one because it also means  keeping myself on a strict diet.  Here is the list of things I realized.  I started noticing how I felt after I ate these things.
1. Corn - this one was really sad!  I love, love, love tortilla chips, but I would make guacamole and not feel good and it was so weird.  I thought it was the avocado at first and then I realized it was the chips. 
2. Soy - This was is a big one and had much stronger reactions than the other two.  I would eat anything with soy (soy protein, soy sauce) and feel absolutely terrible, stomachache, headache, no bueno.  I really need to stay away from this one. 
3. Quinoa - This is a gluten free grain but my stomach can't handle it. After I ate it each time with that stir fry, I felt heavy, bloated, and tired.  I read that quinoa has a part of its shell something called "saponins" which can cause an intestinal response in some people, especially if they are celiac or are already sensitive to other foods with similar proteins like wheat or gluten, which is why I think I may respond to it, I don't have celiac but I do seem to have a gluten response of some kind.  So no more quinoa for me. 
4. Dairy - I actually did just fine on small amounts of dairy.  But I did notice that the more I ate, I didn't do so well.  I cheated on pizza a couple times and was just fine!  But when I tried to do pizza one day, leftover pizza the next day, and then splitting a regular latte with Michael, that my body said "nope, too much.  But it makes me happy that I can eat this!  I think this is less of a sensitivity and just more of a quantity thing.  I mean, no one should eat cheese all the time, bad stomach things happen, just ask Michael, even he can't eat too much cheese...

So, what is our next steps?  Well, it means that Michael and I will keep this a gluten-free home.  From some of the other health stuff we found out recently, it seems like I should just stay away from gluten.  In addition to gluten being gone, we will keep eating paleo as much as possible and cutting out anything listed above (for just me, :-).  And is that not crazy?  I mean, seriously?  How can one person be sensitive to all of these things?  I have really been struggling with this, and feeling like I'm kind of crazy.  But then I remember, this is the same person who has asthma and is allergic to dogs, cats, feathers, pollen, hay, mold, and grass.  Yep, it's true, those of you who know me know that I have a very hard time being around these things.  The same person who, when she eats nuts, goes into anaphylactic shock and has to either A) eat massive amounts of benedryl to keep her throat from closing, B) Use an epipen, or C) be rushed to the ER.  Sometimes I wonder if it is all in my head, but then I realize its not, I am a very sensitive individual when it comes to my environment, and that is the way I am.  Why?  I don't know, I can't tell you.  If I knew I would have fixed it by now, trust me.  

But I am not going to just curl up and say, well, this is it, this is the way I am always going to be.  I am going to keep trying to find ways to help my body heal myself.  Doctors told me that I had exercise induced asthma, well, I did overcome that, I don't need to use an inhaler for exercising anymore.  I feel like maybe I can help my body overcome some of these other issues as well.  And for right now, my diet seems to be the best way to change because I don't want to take any more medication, because that is all doctors seem to want to do for me.  Medication for my stomach pain, medication for my hormones, medication for my acne, seriously!  All these things have been prescribed for me, but I feel like this can't be the way to function, at least not for me.  I want to get down to the source.  Why is my body acting out this way?  And if I figure it out, I will definitely let you guys all know!!  Or maybe God will just heal me, which would also be nice. :-)  

Days 24 and 25 - 30 Day Challenge

Colorado has decided to bless us with snow, finally!  I love skiing and wish I could go more often, but it is a very expensive sport and traffic to the mountains on the weekends is always a nightmare.  But that didn't stop me this weekend.  

On Friday, I was able to go skiing with a friend of mine who is moving back to the east coast, specifically Philly.  She is very excited and I am excited for her.  I am also really excited because she wants me to come and visit and I have always wanted to go to Philly.  Now I have a place to stay while I'm there!

Playing slacker from work and skiing instead

Saturday (Day 24) I went skiing with my coworker.  We found a stash of powder, so fun!  It was a great snow day up there for sure.  We wore ourselves out.

Look at the pow!

Sunday (Day 25), Denver was graced with 10 inches of snow!!  Mike and I woke up to snow and it snowed all day.  Michael is really a child and heart, and he could not be cooped up in the house all day of that snow day, so he had to gear up and go ride his bike in the snow.

Eating this weekend shifted from being paleo, to be gluten free.  I did have grains this weekend.  I had some brown rice and some quinoa (pronounced keen-wa).  I still don't plan on consuming grains often.  Quinoa was one of the grains that my naturopath said that I should keep eating because of how high in protein it is.
We used it like rice for a shrimp stir fry that I made.

Since Sunday was such a cold, snowy day, a crock pot meal was in order.  Our fridge was absolutely empty, but we cut up a butternut squash I had and an onion and threw those in the crock pot.  I topped that with some frozen chicken, a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis, a can of black beans, a can of corn, and some taco seasoning.  We had no idea what it would turn out like, but it ended up being chicken taco soup with butternut squash.

 It was really good, actually.  So at least now we have soup leftovers to get us through the week.  I am definitely going to have to go to the store by Wednesday.

So yes, these meals had some "no" paleo foods, but I seemed to do fine with both of them.  I haven't really felt great all week so I'm not sure if it is food related or what.  I am supposed to have dinner with my friend Monday night before we do a fun painting class, but the restaurant is a pizza place, so I might cheat on some gluten free pizza again and see how I feel.

Paleo Lemon Cranberry Muffins

This is also day 23.  Day 23 was a very snowy morning.  So snowy, that I had left work early the day before and slept in, knowing that I was going to be working from home in the morning.  Knowing that I could work from home in the morning, allowed me some extra time to make a delicious breakfast.

You know those fresh cranberries I talked about last weekend and made these scones?  Yeah, I still had some left.  I didn't want to make the scones again, they took quite awhile and use some expensive ingredients.  So I decided to make another breakfast item that I love but haven't been able to eat, muffins!  I found a recipe for lemon cranberry muffins, and I adapted my recipe from this recipe here.  And I realized I have posted a ton of recipes for breakfast food.  I really need to share some other recipes.  Geez, you'd think breakfast was my favorite or something...

I really like working from home in the mornings.  I get to enjoy my coffee in my own house, and I am usually just as productive, it depends on the project.  I was able to get a ton of work done while my muffins were baking.

Viola!  Delicious and nutritious muffins you do not have to feel bad about eating at all!  They have a lot of eggs in the recipe, so it is a filling breakfast and high in protein.  Complete the meal with some fresh ground coffee mixed with almond milk.

Paleo Lemon Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 6 eggs 
• 1/8 Cup lemon juice
• 2 TBS honey or other sweetener such as agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1/2 Cup chopped fresh cranberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease your muffin tin or line with paper cups.  This recipe makes 12 normal size muffins.
2. Well mix eggs and all other wet ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients, mix well and get rid of all lumps of coconut flour.
4. Gently fold in the chopped cranberries
5. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with the muffin batter
6. Bake for around 20 minutes.  Let cool for about ten minutes before touching.
7. Split open and enjoy with butter or coconut oil.

Catching Up - Days 18-22

One word for food over those days - Carnitas.  On Saturday, I made carnitas in the crock pot for some friends who were coming over.  I have found a great recipe and it includes a vinegar/mustard dressing which just makes them to die for.  But since I had a whole crock pot full.  We have been eating carnita meat for days...

I know I could have frozen some of it, but Mike was leaving this week and I really didn't want to cook a ton of meals knowing that only one person was going to eat them.  So let's just say that I am tired of pulled pork, or pork meat in general.

But this last weekend was amazing.  Exactly the restful weekend we needed.  We forced ourselves to not do anything!  Michael even went shopping with me (gasp!).  We had a couple gift cards and were able to get some things we needed at Target, as well as something I have been wanting for quite some time...A new bed set!

I know the light is bad, but it is green and cream colored

When Michael and I got married we bought a plain black comforter for the bed with a gift card we had gotten.  It was kind of a quick fix, not a nice set or anything.  And I didn't realize how much smaller and darker it made our room until we got a bright comforter.  But we found a set onsale at Targe for $26.00, marked down from $125.00 and I really liked it.  This is how you know you are growing up and becoming old, I am excited about a marked down bed set for my house.

Anyway, moving onto another thing that gets me really excited, chocolate.  While eating on this lifestyle change, dessert kind of hasn't been an option.  And I have been missing the feeling of carbs as I eat them, like bread.  I'm not necessarily missing the bread itself, it is just the texture, does that make sense?

So when I saw this recipe for paleo chocolate cupcakes with chocolate sweet potato icing.  I kind of got really excited!

I made these the other night and they give me my chocolate and my cake/bread fix.  Plus, if you look at the ingredients, they are actually pretty healthy.  The only thing in them that could be considered "unhealthy" is the amount of chocolate, because they don't have any sugar in them, just some honey and a maple syrup.  They are a special occasion treat because I was going to a friend's house for dinner and her and her husband eat paleo as well.

And now to be honest, I would love to say that I have been an angel for the last couple days, but I have been cheating again.  I wanted to be really strict for 30 days and then lighten up!  But I think that I will end up going a little bit longer being strict since I keep cheating in between.   I had some fried rice the other day with some thai food that my coworker ordered for me and again, same feeling of being bloated and just not feeling great.  I did have a slice of gluten free bread a breakfast place where Michael and I ate the other day, and I didn't have the same symptoms.  So maybe it was the soy again, since most fried rice has some soy sauce, and I know how bad I felt last time having soy milk. Who knows?  And chocolate isn't really allowed in the initial 30 days either, but we had to make an exception.  And I mean HAD to make an exception.  Not negotiable.  I have also found vanilla almond milk, which tastes absolutely amazing, but is not low in the sugar content, which is probably why it is so delicious.  But if you just heat up a glass of that, it is like drinking a hot vanilla chocolate or something.  D.e.l.i.s.h.

But overall, we have been eating very well.  WAY more fruits and veggies then we were eating before, and we thought we ate a lot as it was.  Michael has been having a hard time keeping to the rules while traveling, but he never really had to.  I finally felt this week how hard it was to really eat like this.  I didn't have anything prepared for meals, and I couldn't just go pick up food it seemed or make a sandwich.  My coworkers wanted to go out out to lunch a Noodles and Company so I got a salad without dressing, but then cheated on eating some of someone's rice krispy treat.  It is getting harder to follow for sure.  But it is also getting more and more clear how much better I feel eating this way, and as soon as I start to eat more sugar or cheat, more of my old symptoms come back.  So it is good that these "desserts" that I make occasionally are so low in sugar and that I stay away from a lot of unnecessary sugar to begin with.  I need to get a little better about not cheating though, so I can better pin point some of my triggers.  Like the fried rice, is it the soy or the rice itself?  It's weird realizing that I haven't eaten any grains for three weeks, minus the occasional corn chip.  Wow!  It is showing me how much we rely on grains for our diet and they really do not provide the nutrients we need to live well.  And we are not really eating that much more meat ( I italics because we have been buying a little bit more, but mostly we are going through eggs like nobodies business).  We are swapping our grains for vegetables and fruit, not more meat.  So there is my little realization.  I'm interested to see if it changes as we keep eating like this.

Days 12 - 15, 30 Day Challenge

Busy, busy, busy week!  For both of us.  With our crazy weekend last weekend, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were just plain nuts.  This is when it starts to get hard to have healthy food to eat or to eat paleo.  It would be so much easier to through a frozen pizza in the oven.  I just feel like I am spending an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen preparing food.

Michael has had to get up before six every morning this week.  We both seem to switch off doing this.  Last week it was me getting up at 4am, this week it is him getting up early and me traveling again, and then next week he will take the traveling baton.  Our crazy lives.  We sometimes wonder why we don't live in Kansas, where life appears to run at a slower pace... next to family... and then we remember that we have a love affair with mountains.  

So, not too much to report on food this week.  We ate a lot of leftovers and salad.  One morning while Michael was up at 5:45am, I decided to get up with him and we had breakfast together (another breakfast skillet, this week's meat flavor is chorizo).  Then I decided to put some dinner in the crockpot before I left for work.

At 6:45am.  Its all about preparation.  And you see that butternut squash there?  I absolutely love butternut squash.  I would probably put it in almost every dish if I could.  But they are the hardest things to prep!  You have to peel the outside, and then scoop out seeds and cut it up.  It gets hard to hold on to while you are peeling too.  But I just through a whole bunch of squash, carrots, onions, and celery in the crockpot with some frozen chicken breasts and spices on top.  We were able to eat on that for the rest of the week, which helped.

And yes, this past week included Valentine's Day.  We had a pretty lame day on Valentine's Day.  I worked 16 hours and had to drive back from Cripple Creek and Michael had to work a crazy day too. So we celebrated Friday night and then made a nice breakfast Saturday morning too.  I'll post on that soon.

Weekend Cheating - 30 Day Challenge

I'm kind of getting behind on my posting, but such is life.  I work a lot so something has to give.  Which usually ends up being the computer and TV time, because I can't give on the job, we need the money (:-) and I can't give on the adventures/fitness because that keeps me sane.

Anyway, we cheated a little over the weekend, or at least I did.  And it made me sad.  Sad because I am starting to realize that this challenge is most likely going to become more of a lifestyle change then I expected.  Basically put, I felt terrible both times I cheated.

The first was on a Starbucks mocha with soymilk.  And I got half the sweetener, so I cut back on the sugar.  But I felt lethargic, had a stomachache, and a small headache after drinking it.  I do still drink coffee now on this diet challenge (please allow me one vice) so I don't think it was the caffeine.  I guess it could be that I can't tolerate soy.  After this 30 days is up I will try some milk and see if I get the same reaction.

And Saturday night we spent the night up in the mountains on my coworkers couch  so we could do some of this action on Sunday without dealing with morning ski traffic.

Mike Ski Biking

When we finished skiing Sunday afternoon, we looked up traffic back to Denver and the roads were a parking lot, so we decided to hang out and have dinner.  So we hung out and had a couple gluten free drinks.  Then we tried to find some food.  It was really hard a ski resort to find some food that fit my current eating, so we decided to just do gluten free and had some nachos and then some gluten free pizza and salad. Again, felt terrible.  I had a horrible stomachache.  I wish I would have only cheated on one thing because I can't pinpoint what it was that made me feel bad.  It could have been dairy, corn, or something else they maybe used in the food I wasn't aware of.

But another step in figuring out my sensitivities/allergies.  I really do envy my husband. He is completely healthy and has virtually no health issues.

I have tried some new recipes recently and some have turned out great, while others have just been okay.  I will try to get some of them up here.

Days 10 and 11, 30 Day Challenge

Michael and I are not good about taking it easy.  Here I said I needed a nice lazy Saturday, and we made it lazy, until about 2 p.m. in the afternoon.  Then we let it get crazy again.  We do it to ourselves, but this time it came back and bit us.  Anyway...

Friday night Mike's coworker who used to live in Colorado flew into town to go skiing over the weekend.  Saturday morning he was going to leave really early to hit the slopes, before Mike and I woke up.  Well, his rental car wouldn't start and he asked Mike for some help and then we all just ended getting up and drinking coffee.  I really wanted something for breakfast besides fried or scrambled eggs, so I decided to try these pumpkin spice waffles.  

Day 10 - Pumpkin Spice Waffles

They were a hit.  They were a little more crumbly than normal waffles, but really good.  Mike's coworker actually liked them more than regular waffles.  He asked if it was a mix he could buy at a store.  So here is the recipe.  I can't quite remember where I found it, but this is how I made them with some of my changes.  I really didn't measure when I made them, so you may need to tweak the recipe a little when you make it.  

Paleo Pumpkin Spice Waffles:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Canned Pumpkin (or pureed pumpkin)
• 1/4 Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 4 TBS Coconut Flour
• 2 TBS Almond Butter or Sunbutter
• 1/2 Cup Canned Coconut Milk
• 1/2 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
• 2 TBS Maple Syrup
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 TBS Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 3/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp. Ginger
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt.

Directions:

1. Plug in your waffle iron and allow it to heat up.
2. Whisk eggs, then whisk in coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and melted coconut oil.  Do not let you coconut oil get too hot when you melt it.  You do not want to cook the eggs.
3. Next mix in the pumpkin, unsweetened coconut, coconut flour, nut or seed butter, and all the spices and dry ingredients.
4. Batter should be a little bit running, enough to pour, but it should be kind of thick.  You can add more coconut milk if it is too thick.
5. Make sure to spray your waffle maker well.  Then ladle the batter onto the waffle iron and allow to cook for 3-4 min.
6. Top with butter and a tiny bit of maple syrup, or eat with almond butter and sliced fruit.  Yum!

Days 7, 8, 9, and 10 - 30 day challenge

Umm, days 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all about trail mix and eggs.  I feel like this is what I lived on when I traveled for work.  It is amazing how hard it is to eat healthy while traveling!

Before I left on my work trip for 3.5 days, I made sure to load up on a good, healthy breakfast and to pack a ton of snacks like apples, trail mix with pumpkin seeds and dried fruit, and Larabars, which are bars of just nuts/seeds and dried fruit.  I can only eat the Cherry Pie ones because they just have almonds in them.  The rest of the Larabar flavors all have other nuts I cannot eat.

I had to travel to Alabama for work and it was such a whirlwind trip.  They are on eastern time so I was up at 4am Denver time every morning and worked 13-16 hr days.  My work trips are never really "fun."  Yes, I get to see new places, but I do not get to enjoy them really.  On a rare occasion I do and stay an extra day, but that is when I am someplace nice.  This town in Alabama is not somewhere you want to vacation.

We only had time to eat twice a day, so that kind of made it easy because you can find eggs at any breakfast place to order.  Then for dinner I would just order a salad or something with meat and veggies.  It was so nice to eat a home cooked meal on Friday night, let me tell you (Day 10).  I am very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  I got home at 1pm on Friday (after being up at 3:45am and flying back) and ended up going for hour and a half bike ride.  That was overdoing it.  I got muscle cramps from being dehydrated and was exhausted by the end.  So Saturday is going to be a very low key day.

Day 6 - 30 Day Challenge

I have a lot of catching up to do, but I have been traveling.  Here is my post for Monday last week.  Ahh, Monday, the sad day because you are back at work after a fun weekend.  But Monday for us happened to be exciting and fun.  One of Michael's coworkers flew into town and wanted to go out to dinner and to a hockey game.  So he took us out to dinner and then to an Avalanche game!

Michael and I both ordered our burgers and the restaurant without buns, and then I got a salad on the side.  French fries are one of those gray area gluten free/paleo foods.  A lot of people say that white potatoes should not be eaten and that french fries aren't gluten free because they fry them in the same oil as the other breaded items.  Who knows?  I know that I tasted a couple of them, that's it. :-)

But here are our photos from the game, pretty fun times...

Gerry and Michael

Arggh!

Not sure what I was going for, I just knew I should get my hair in the picture.

 I apologize for all the grainy Iphoto shots.

Hockey is way fun to watch.  There is always just so much happening out on the ice, and it is so fast paced!  A fun way to enjoy your Monday night for sure.

Day 5 - 30 Day challenge

Sunday, day 5, was Superbowl Sunday!!  My friend and I had made plans to go skiing Sunday morning before our Superbowl parties.  We braved the traffic and had an awesome day skiing. 

Top of the mountain to you!

 It was a little hard to pack food, because I usually bring a sandwich or granola bar skiing, but I can't really do that right now, and may not ever again.  I knew that if I ate a good breakfast, I could probably make it back to the car and grab a snack on the way home.  I ate some leftover egg skillet on the way up to the mountain and that lasted me all morning.  We stopped skiing at 1:30 p.m. and I was able to eat some cold leftover pumpkin pancakes that I had grabbed from the fridge.  Not bad, and it allowed me not to starve while we were on our way home.  Traffic was not great, but it definitely could have been worse.  Note to self for further years.

We went to a Superbowl party at my coworkers house and Mike and I decided we were still going to follow our new dietary guidelines.  It was a little hard because there was so much tasty looking food, but we are committed.  We passed up the cookies, cupcakes, and pizza and opted for the veggie tray, the bowl of fresh guacamole Michael made, and the platter of chicken sausages.  And we did have a hard cider again.

Let me tell you something, I don't know if you are like me, but at big gatherings or parties, when there is so much food like that, I am usually constantly having the conversation with myself, "Only one more cookie," or "No more chips."  But this time, I was literally halfway through a plate of food, and I was full, I literally couldn't make myself eat anymore, even though I wanted to.  I used to always overeat and walk out of parties so stuffed.  Mike and I have both felt like this while eating this week.  We have noticed that we don't ever get to that stuffed point.  We stop way before then, when we are full.  I had read about this in a couple articles, about how sugar and grains cause cravings and kind of chemical imbalance in your brain, which is why you just want to keep eating them after you are full, but we have both really experienced that now.  It is like being a little kid again, when your mom gives you a plate of food and you eat half of it and don't want the rest because you are full.  We never seem to do that as adults anymore.  I thought that was interesting.

Days 4 - 30 Day Challenge

Whew, the weekend just flew by!  So busy!!  And yes, we managed to stay on the wagon, we haven't fallen off yet.  Although, this isn't a 30 day paleo type challenge in the strict sense.  So our weekend meals consisted of more breakfast skillets, yum!  We are getting so good at these.  My favorites so far is sausage, mushroom, spinach, and onion.  But the bell pepper, onion, egg, and bacon is not bad either!  And fresh cilantro in there adds some more great flavor.  Just saute your veggies first, then add your eggs on top with any spices or seasonings.  We are really finding that it doesn't take much more time in the morning to do this than it did to make oatmeal or a bagel and cream cheese.

Saturday, poor Michael had to work and I had a million and one things that needed to get done.  Our morning started nice and hectic by me realizing that we had just received our mortgage bill in the mail, and right on the top of said mortgage bill, "Due 2/1/13".  I started freaking out because Saturday was Feb. 2nd.  We had just received the bill on the 1st.  So I am trying to call the mortgage people, clean up breakfast, pack Michael a lunch and get him out the door, only to find out that the office is closed until Monday.  I decide I'm going to pay the bill and mail it back with a note inside that saying that we received it late.  (our mortgage people do not have an online bill pay option quite yet, they say they will soon)  As I am writing the check, I see that I only have to pay the late fee if they receive it after 2/15/13.  So, crisis averted, blonde move complete, and unnecessary freak-out accomplished.  But that is kind of how the whole day turned out, just one thing after another.  Now at least I know you get a grace period.

 After that ordeal, a latte was needed.  The coffee place by my house is just.so.good.  They are 10x better than Starbucks.  I got a honey latte with almond milk. *moment of heaven*

Saturday night, we went and visited some friends for dinner.  Eating out or eating with friends was/is a little bit of a concern for us moving forward with eating like this because you don't want to be the "dieter" (although this isn't a diet) or be difficult or picky, but you are a little bit more limited with your options. They were great though, they always are.  When we were planning dinner, I just said lets grill some meat.  Then I offered to bring a salad.  Meal complete, and it was delicious!  They can really grill chicken.  Whenever I do it, it is always dry.  Michael is much better at grilling then me.  I can't wait for warmer weather so we can pull out our grill.  Although, more snow would still be nice.  My skiing itch has not been fully scratched...

Day 3 - 30 Day Challenge

So, day 3 and we were still doing good.  I think the only thing I really will get tired of is eating eggs for breakfast.  I have read a lot of websites which suggest having leftovers from dinner for breakfast.  But I really enjoy breakfast, and I like breakfast type foods, so I'm not sure that I will ever get to that point.

But, I did find a recipe which is like eating eggs, but taste like pancakes!  So I whipped up some of these pumpkin pancakes for breakfast with some bacon.  

Breakfast - Day 3

The pancakes are just pumpkin and eggs basically, with a little bit of real maple syrup and vanilla.  Much  more blood sugar friendly, you don't get the blood sugar spike with these like you do with normal, carb pancakes with corn syrup (what normal syrup is made out of).  Mike just ate these with butter and a little cinnamon/sugar mix on top, very little on the cinnamon sugar mix.  I was even find just eating them with butter.

So if you want to change up your breakfast routine, then give these a try.  They have a little different texture than regular pancakes, but not bad at all, plus you don't feel full and bloated after eating them, like you do with a stack of normal pancakes (or at least I did).

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes: (also taken from the book "Practical Paleo")

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 Cup pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 TBS pure maple syrup (optional)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 TBS melted butter or coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs with pumpkin, vanilla, and maple syrup
2. Whisk in the dry ingredients
3. Make sure your skillet is well oiled over medium heat before pouring any batter on the skillet
4. Spoon batter onto the skillet, making small to medium sized pancakes.
5. When a few bubbles appear, flip pancakes carefully (you can't flip them quickly like you do with normal pancakes, you kind of have to take it slow or you will rip the pancakes, they are much more fragile)
6. Serve with butter and cinnamon, fruit, more maple syrup, or whatever you like!

Day 2 - 30 Day Challenge

Not much different today, the key to this way of eating is definitely going to be cooking extra and having leftovers, for sure.  That is how Michael and I made it through today. 

We know its only been two days, but it hasn't been that hard yet to eat like this.  One thing we have both noticed in two days is that we are hungry less, and have less cravings.  We can eat breakfast and make it all the way until lunch time without dealing with growling stomachs at 10:30 a.m.  Eating like this also isn't hard when you have time to make a fantastic dinner of Bacon Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs, roasted butternut squash, and steamed red cabbage.  Let me say, smelling that chicken baking was really hard, it smelled so good!  

I'm really liking the book "Practical Paleo" by Diane Sanfilippo.  I tried her recipe from the book for the chicken thighs and they are literally, amazing. 

Dinner - Day 2

What is going to be hard, is eating like this when I have to travel for work again.  I will have to be creative eating out.

I'm also sure we will get tired of eating eggs every day for breakfast, which is why last night after the chicken finished baking I mixed up a batch of Paleo Pumpkin Granola.

I modified the recipe a bit because it contained a lot of nuts that I couldn't eat.  It still turned out delicious!  All nuts and seeds basically.  After I made it, I couldn't get the container away from Michael and if he thought it was good, its a keeper!!   He really does eat anything and everything, but he likes it to be cheap and taste really good.  And some of my healthier recipes have flopped because they have missed the mark on one or both these categories.  So if you want to make some for yourself, here is the recipe:

Paleo Pumpkin Spice Granola - Nut Allergy Modified:

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup sliced almonds
• 1 Cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 Cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 TBS. Chia Seeds
• 6 Dates, chopped
• 1 TBS pumpkin pie spice
• 1 Teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 Teaspoon cloves
• pinch of salt
• 3 TBS melted coconut oil
• 2 TBS unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, combine all the seeds and spices (dry ingredients)
3. Whisk together the remaining wet ingredients in a different bowl
4. Pour the wet ingredients on the seed/spice mixture and mix well
5. Spread mixture evenly on the two cookie sheets, trying to get an even layer
6. Bake for 30-40 min, stirring every ten minutes
7. Let cool for 30 min on the pan before putting in an airtight container
8. Eat in a bowl with some almond or coconut milk and enjoy!!  

Day 1 Continued- 30 Day Challenge

I haven't decided if I will post all meals that we eat, I might just highlight the awesome ones, but I figured I would post again today since it was our first day at this and I am still super motivated.  

You already saw the pic for my sausage/egg/spinach/mushroom skillet for breakfast, but here is lunch and dinner.  Plus, posting here when I cane and telling you all helps keep me from cheating.  Because in several days, I guarantee that I will want a cookie or brownie, very, very badly.

Anyway,  what if you have lunch out with a coworker?  What can you eat at restaurants?

Well, I found that Qdoba is amazing.  If you just get a chicken salad, without the tortilla shell, and skip the rice and beans and opt for either the fajita veggies or squash medley, then pile on all the pico de gallo, salsa, and guacamole you want (no cheese or sour cream), you have an amazing paleo meal, and still delicious.  

Lunch - Day 1 (this is not my picture, I borrowed it from qdoba)

For snack I had an apple with almond butter.

Let me pause and state just how happy I am I can eat almonds.  Since I was three, I have been allergic to nuts, all nuts.  Not just an "I feel bad" kind of allergy, but full on anaphylaxis, rush me to the ER, don't die please, kind of allergy.  I made a connection one day that I was eating almond flour in my multigrain cheerios.  Yes, they used to put almond flour in there, they don't anymore, probably because of kids like me that actually were allergic to almonds.  I wondered then if I was actually allergic to almonds.  Now I never got the nerve to actually try an almond until college.  And low and behold, I had stayed away from almonds, almond butter, toffee, and many other delicious almondy things for so long, for no reason.  I now eat quite a bit of almond butter, it is a weakness of mine.  Although as a kid, my parents found me some other seed butters to take the place of peanut butter.  I grew up on pumpkin seed butter, which I still think is quite good, but I am the only one.  I have not been able to successfully convert anyone else, something about the green color...I digress  (I'm not joking, it is actually green when you grind up pumpkin seeds!)

Dinner

I didn't get home until after 6:00pm and had bible study at 7:00pm so I had to make a quick dinner.  I picked up a haddock filet at the store when we stocked our fridge and I saw this recipe for Dijon Almond Encrusted Tilapia so I thought I would give that a try, it was a super quick recipe.

Then I just put the fish over a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots.  Not bad, super tasty, and quick!  If you are looking for another fish recipe, I would try this one!

Dinner - Day 1

I had two deglet dates for dessert.  And I may have had half a bottle of Strong-bow cider at the Bible study.  "Way to hit the diet hard, Sara. Geesh"  In my defense, Strong-bow is gluten-free and comes from apples. Not saying it is healthy, just saying it is allowed.  But I will be cutting out most alcohol for this month.  I will try to only have a glass of red wine every now and then if I do choose to drink.

The Quest Begins - 30 Day Challenge

Okay,
  I will post more as it comes to me, and as I have time, but after much consideration, Dr.'s appointments and  donating so much of my blood to science, we have decided to make some changes around the Funk household.  Mainly dietary changes.  I've been struggling with allergy and digestive issues for so long and now have been performing some of my own research into possible treatments.  One thing keeps popping up all over, gluten-free and grain free living.

I know there are a lot of people who will disagree that this is unhealthy or silly, but I am going to give it a complete try, in fact, Michael and I both will.  He is doing this with me.  We are doing a 30-45 day trial of going 100% gluten free, and virtually paleo.  If you don't know what paleo is, see some of the sites below.  A lot of them are blogs of people who have been helped by this type of eating and have been relieved of their nagging symptoms.

http://whole9life.com/start/

http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/p/about.html

http://balancedbites.com/

http://www.againstallgrain.com/about-me/

http://wellnessmama.com/575/how-grains-are-killing-you-slowly/

http://www.elanaspantry.com/getting-diagnosed-with-multiple-sclerosis/

One thing about this type of eating that stood out to me, was that it is so healthy.  You are only eating real food.  And it is so nutrient rich.  Instead of eating the empty carb and sugar calories, you are getting fiber, vitamins and minerals.  You also completely stabilize your blood sugar, minimizing insulin spikes.  Mainstream nutrition has lead us to believe that we need to eat grains for B vitamins and fiber, but vegetables and fruits provide way more fiber and vitamins than any grain.  I know all the posts and research I have linked are blogs and may not necessarily be "ordained" websites and bodies of knowledge, but that is because these people are going against conventional thought.  Already the government is recognizing that the old pyramid is not a healthy way of eating and has switched to a plate, where they are saying that half of your food intake at every meal should be fruits and veggies, with a 1/4 protein and a 1/4 starch (grains).  Link Here.

And I want to say here, that I am not looking for an argument.  If you do not agree with me, that is okay, but please keep your comments to yourselves unless they follow Ephesians 4:29.

Michael will not be as strict as the paleo version, because he does not currently have any digestive issues, but I will be cutting out virtually all grains and dairy as well.  We have talked and talked about his for awhile, and yes, it is restrictive, but if being healthy was about ease, then 36% of America would not be obese (CDC).  And that is just obesity, that does not include just generally being overweight.  And I am no way judging these people, finding time to exercise is hard and losing weight is even harder.  I am just saying that it is much easier to grab a pizza for dinner then it is to bake some chicken breasts and cook some fresh broccoli and butternut squash on the side.  It is also much cheaper...

So there is my nutrition rant.  I will share more about what has got me to this point in future posts, but last night Michael and I started out quest for eating real food by stocking our fridge with a ton of yummy fruits and veggies, various squashes, meats, yams, almonds, and seeds.  And we purged our cabinets of saltine crackers, graham crackers, white noodles, tuna helper, and packaged breakfast cereal.

And then we made an amazing breakfast.  We baked up a pound of sausage and put most of it in the fridge for later meals.  We then sauteed spinach, mushrooms, and onions with eggs and added a little bit of sausage.  (Fat is not the enemy! I will post on this sometime soon too)  We both ate two eggs each this way.  Delicious!!

Challenge Day 1 - Breakfast

This is not the Atkins diet.  You want to focus on veggies, good starches, and fruits before you dive in on the protein. You still need to follow portion sizes.  Like eating only a servings size of steak (deck of cards) instead of the whole steak.

And we may do a little cheat occasionally.  This is not a diet, but a lifestyle change.  After the very restrictive initial 30-45 days I will try to introduce dairy and gluten-free grains back into my diet and see how I feel.  Then I may be able to pinpoint what is causing so many issues.