Day 23!

Slowly, but surely I'm getting through Whole30. My list of most-eaten foods so far is as follows: -AVOCADO (there's usually at least one of these bad boys a day) -sweet potatoes -coconut (milk, cream, water, shreds) -onion -grilled chicken -ground beef -zucchini -bibb lettuce -sweet peppers -strawberries -bananas (I never knew how awesome frozen bananas were) -almonds (dry roasted, almond butter) So yeah, my diet has consisted of most of these every day, for just about every meal. Like I mentioned above, I have fallen head over heels for avocados, bananas, and coconuts. Frozen banana slices might just be the best thing EVER. Seriously. Just slice them up thinly, stick them in the freezer like an hour or two, then eat them as if they're ice cubes: let them melt in your mouth just a little, then bite through the freezy goodness. I've recently discovered my adoration of the coconut. I enjoy shredded coconut, even the unsweetened I used to scoff at. Coconut cream is fantastic, and when mixed with banana and chilled, it makes a delicious treat akin to banana pudding. I think when I'm off Whole30 I'm going to try to make it with nilla wafers as a crust, it would be killer with that mix. Now, avocado I liked a lot before I started doing paleo, but the love has increased 10-fold. I've got to the point where somedays I just feel like slicing one in half, tossing the seed, scoring the flesh, salt & pepper, then just tackle each half with a spoon (or some hot sauce if I'm feeling crazy =P). Anyway, only 1 more week to go til I'm free again. It's perfect timing because my sister's birthday is the 25th, so I can actually eat whatever she wants for her birthday without having to worry about what I'm eating or looking like a picky snob in front of her friends. Plus, I think Mom's making her famous "birthday soup" for Jacki that Saturday, so I'll finally be able to eat some of that. I'm still planning on eating strict paleo about 80-90% of the time, but I want to be able to enjoy myself on special occasions. Until later!

Day 13 & 14

It's been a crazy 4 days off this go-round.  I did want to show off some of my fave food.  The green, leafy goodness is paleo tacos, made with bibb lettuce, a nice chunk of Kalua pork from the slow cooker (nomnompaleo's recipe), yellow pepper, onion, avocado, and some good mexican hot sauce.   The other dessert-y looking picture is coconut cream with strawberries and sliced almonds.  It was killer.  I did another similar dish to that yesterday, but forgot to take a picture.  Yesterday, I was beating the chilled coconut cream with a mixer and thought, "hey, banana would be awesome in this!"  (It was soooo awesome!)  I mixed in a ripe banana diced up, and threw in some unsweetened shredded coconut, and topped it with almond slices.  Crazy good.   More updates later.

Day 11

So yeah, I swear I didn't forget about this blog, I've just been crazy busy at times when I remembered it. =P Today is Day 11 of my Whole30, and I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going. Cooking/easy is super easy as long as I have meat and veggies on stand-by. I've actually eaten at restaurants during my last 4 days off and didn't stray either! My first day off I went to Logan's Roadhouse with Jer, Tasha, and Brandon. The menu was a bit difficult, but I did ok with a plain 8 oz steak w/ sweet potato fries (no sugar on them please!), and steamed veggies. I think what I had was better than everyone elses' b/c when we left, I was the only one not groaning or saying they were tired. The other outing I met up w/ my friend, Victoria, at Poblano's. This was great, not only b/c the food was great AND Whole30 compliant--it also was 30% off since it was Tuesday. Score! I got ceviche and some grilled chicken and veggies. Delicious. The other days I just fixed random meals, basically whatever protein I could get my hands on and two fist-fulls of veggies (also, usually an apple or frozen banana when I could get away with it). I also finally got some compliant almond butter: Harris Teeter brand almond butter. Believe it or not, it was the only one in the whole store that didn't have sugar in it. By the way, if you have never tried almond butter on a freshly sliced pink lady apple, you need to. It is the absolute best! I started a new pork roast in the slow cooker yesterday so Jer and I would have some more of that amazing Kalua Pork from NomNomPaleo's recipe. I've already got one of those living lettuce things of bibb lettuce, along with some onion and peppers. It is going to be amazing after my work out. Anyway, I'm going to try to write again on my days off this week, but you know how it goes. =)

Day 4

FINALLY! I have survived 4 days of work AND 4 days of Whole30 food. I don't have a whole lot of time before time to go this morning, but I will say it's been a crazy night in Greensboro. When I came back from lunch at 3:00 am, there were 2 structure fires going on simultaneously, and 2 different vehicle accidents with ejections. And the weather wasn't even remotely bad? Crazy. Food wise: tuna salad w/ boiled eggs on cabbage leaves and tomatoes on top, grilled chicken, sweet potato with hot sauce, a granny smith apple, cashews, 2 boiled eggs, some more grilled chicken, and LOTS of water. Anyway, I'll write more soon, probably later today or tomororow, but now I get to finally go home and unabashedly SLEEP! HOORAY!

Day 3

Survived day 3 of Whole30 fairly easy considering my lack of sleep and exposure to bad-for-me foods. I went to the Dr. w/ Jer's mom this morning, then she insisted on going by Fresh Market to get food before I took her home. I almost caved and ate a stuffed grapeleaf (they are my FAVE) but resisted and put it back in the container before I could stuff it in my face. Instead, I had olives and some awesome paleo tacos made w/ bibb lettuce as the wrap, some of NomNomPaleo's Kalua Pig Jer made topped with slices of onion, yellow pepper, big chunks of avocado and some good hot sauce. I also had sweet potato, grilled chicken,green beans,a granny smith apple and some sunflower seeds. I don't think I'm nearly as tired today, even without having my B vitamin complex, and that other 4 hours of sleep I didn't get from running around with Jer's mom. I need to get a new bottle of B vitamin complex soon though. It makes such a difference in my energy levels, especially when I'm not eating grains where I'd get that energy from normally. I CAN NOT WAIT to get in the bed this morning. Sigh.

Day 2

So Day 2 of Whole30 down. I didn't have any time to work out today since we only had 30 minute lunches due to being short staffed. I still stuck to the eating plan even though I also woke up late this afternoon. Today I've eaten: 2 eggs omelet style, some salsa, sauerkraut, some grilled chicken, a granny smith apple, some tomatoes, 1/2 sweet potato w/ hot sauce, and some sunflower kernels. I don't really feel any different yet (not that I expect to this early). I have been really thirsty though, even though I've drank 2 20 oz bottles of water since I got to work. I'm excited for lunch today because Jer made nomnompaleo's Kalua Pork recipe in the slow cooker. I'm figuring I can make some sort of tacos w/ lettuce as the wrap, and then top the pork w/ some raw onion, yellow pepper, and avocado. Jer is insisting on making sauerkraut because "you can't have pork without sauerkraut". That works for me since I love it regardless of what else I'm eating. I haven't really had any issues with cravings today, nothing bad enough to warrant mention anyway. I still have the fleeting urge for ice cream (or truthfully non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt from Food Lion or Harris Teeter), but I've been able to stifle it for the most part with just chugging water instead. I really need to get some Whole30 compliant almond butter. I discovered that the almond butter currently in my posession has sugar in it, much to my dismay. My sweet tooth isn't very prominent, but when it does kick in, it's usually pretty severe. I'm going to do some research as to something I could actually have. I know it's against the rules to try to make fake/paleo desserts since it's just sustaining old, bad habits. I'll probably just eat some sort of fruit medley to kill it for now, maybe with some cinnamon to add that hint of extra flavor. We'll see I guess.

First!

Ah. Finally, I'm caving and starting my blog again. I've had blogs before, but never really had a clear direction to write towards. For this, I've decided to focus (for now) on my craft pseudo-business, along with other creative pursuits I feel like discussing. Hooray direction! Ok, so today was/is my first day of the Whole30. I won't lie and say that I'm super confident in my ability to not submit to the urge of licking the batter bowl while making cupcakes. I don't think that there's anyone's birthday I have to worry about at least until mid-October, so I won't even have to be in the same vicinity as a delicious bowl of cake batter. I am enjoying the food so far. My meals today: breakfast- grilled chicken, 1/2 sweet potato w/ hot sauce, zucchini noodles, and tomato salad w/ basil; lunch-grilled chicken, granny smith apple, turnip greens w/ apple cider vinegar; pre-workout-grilled chicken, cashews, sunflower seeds; post-work out-grilled chicken, sweet potato w/ hot sauce, some more my zucchini noodles, and tomatoes. Not bad for my first day, but I'm still hardcore craving icecream. Hopefully that will go away though. Onward and upward!