I mentioned in my post from yesterday that I am doing the Whole30. In fact, myself, my husband and my Mom are doing the Whole30 as well. (more on those two amazing people in a moment)
For those who don't know about the Whole30 let me give you a super quick run down.
No Dairy
No Grain
No Soy
No Corn
No Beans (except green beans)
NO SUGAR
I'm sure most of you are now going - well what the devil CAN you eat!? :) Let me enlighten you!
All the Meat!
All the Veggies!
All the Fruit (in moderation)
Eggs!
Potatoes! (in moderation)
Protein and Veggies are the core of this here lifestyle. Lots of meats, eggs and veggies. Now, I am NOT a veggie person. Never have been. Which makes it a bit tougher on me. However, I am seriously enjoying finding new and yummy foods that I never even knew about before. For instance, zucchini. Yeah you heard me. Zucchini. I'm sure you have all heard of zucchini bread, which is NOT allowed on the W30. Its delicious.... Now if you told me I had to eat sliced raw zucchini everyday, I'm out. Nope. Not doing it. You cant make me. BUT....you can make NOODLES out of that stuff! Get yourself a spiralizer and go to town!
This one has 7 different blades! I am in love with this thing!
You CAN eat the Zoodles raw, but I prefer them seasoned with salt and pepper and then cooked in EV Olive Oil until tender. You can make all sorts of dishes with Zoodles. My husbands favorite is Zoodles with shrimp and beef tips. Yum! (See! I'm totally NOT starving myself!)
Moving on.
My breakfast on a daily basis is pretty simple. I have ground beef and sweet potatoes Monday - Friday. "Good Lord, doesn't that get boring?" Nope! And here is why. My life isn't as crazy as I am sure others are, but I don't have a lot of free time. Even if I did, I prefer to spend that free time with my family and friends, or sleeping...because sleep is amazing! So on Sundays I meal prep as much as I can. I rely heavily on my crock pot for dinners and have found that most of the time we have enough of dinner left over for lunches the next day!! Score! So that just leaves meal prepping breakfast.
This is the part of the blog that I realized I am a terrible terrible blogger! Who starts a blog to talk about weight loss, getting healthy and food and then doesn't take step by step pictures!? Sigh.
Anyway. I start out by washing, skinning and patting dry 5 large sweet potatoes. I then cut them into 1/4" sections and salt and pepper them. While I am cutting them, I have my Coconut Oil heating in the skillet. **I have found that having an electric skillet with a lid helps IMMENSELY! This way you can control the temperature and keep the taters from burning** Once the oil is completely melted, place your taters in there. I use 350 degrees. I do one side for 10 minutes and then flip them and do 5 minutes. All with the lid on. For 5 sweet potatoes I get this...
I swear I will do better on pictures!
After all the potatoes are cooked, I leave what little CO is left in the skillet and put in 5 lbs of ground beef. You can season it however you like! My husband likes onions and peppers in his and then adds in some scrambled eggs. I like mine with salt, pepper and Wahoo Chili (tastefully simple - you can use chili powder). This is the finished result...
Its sooooooo good!
Last night for dinner was Cauliflower Sweet Potato Crumbles with Cajun Shrimp. I'm pretty sure all 3 of us licked our bowls clean!
I think dinner tonight will be another house favorite - Egg Roll In a Bowl.
Its a bit spicy but Good Gracious its good!
Another favorite of mine right now isn't even a food. Its a drink. You have to be very careful about everything you buy while doing the W30. There are hidden sugars and oils in just about everything. Were you aware that 95% of the canned tuna out there has SOY in it?! Read your labels! You would be surprised what you are actually putting into your body. And I am not talking about the nutrition label. Read the ingredients! Who cares about calories and all that jazz. Read your ingredients and prepare to be enlightened.
Nectar of the Gods!
This, my friends, is Kombucha. It is a fermented tea. Yep, fermented. Its def a different taste and has a distinct alcohol tang to it....fermented.
I'm not sure if you can read that label or not, but under NUTRITION it does list Sugar. And that is OK! The sugar in this is a naturally occurring sugar and No Sugar has been added. Again, read the Ingredients, not the Nutrition part.
This post turned out longer then I thought it would be. Before I go, I just want to touch on 2 people. My Husband, William, and my Mom, Judy.
My husband:
Us doing our first Whole 30 (back in 2017) was all his fault. And I say it that way because its true. It was all his fault. He pushed me to do it and while I physically felt better, I was a complete emotional and mental basket case. No Joke. I was angry and sad and bitter and ANGRY. Did you catch that I was angry!? 30 whole days of eating meat and veggies with very little fruit. 30 whole days of depriving myself of cheeseburgers and sodas and french fries and Chinese food and pizza and salad dressing and real mayo and Mocha Frappe's! Ugh! 30 whole days of not getting on the scale...only to climb on the scale on day 30, feeling 10x better physically, just to see a weight loss of 1 pound. 1....pound.... You guys, that 1 pound broke me. It broke every little tendril of hope I had left in me...and then I ate everything I could. And I felt miserable...and bloated....and ANGRY. I swore then and there I would never do that (The Whole30) to myself again. And I meant it. Until I didn't. Because lets be honest. I FELT better. I wasn't bloated. My acid reflux had calmed 10 fold. I had more energy. Why wouldn't I want to FEEL better, even if it meant I wasn't losing weight??? So January 1 we started our Round 1 (R1) of 2018. It was my idea and Will was totally on board. He had lost 18 lbs in 2017 doing the W30 and gained it all, plus more, back when we went back to eating crap. This time around, I am the main cook. I am trying to find new and yummy food to keep things interesting to make sure we don't get bored.
My husband is a pretty amazing guy. He is smart and funny. He loves me beyond anything I could have ever imagined for myself. He supports me and all my crazy ideas. He cares. He genuinely cares. And he pushes me. He pushes me to do things out of my norm. He pushes me to keep going. He pushes me to get past my own insecurities. He pushes me to do better. To be better. And I love him for all those things and more. I couldn't do this W30 journey without him and I hope he knows that.
He has currently lost 21 lbs in just Round 1. I'm pretty freaking proud of him!
My Mom:
My Mom has struggled with lots things over the past few years. Her health physically had gone down the tubes. Her mental health was hanging by a thread, all thanks to people who make terrible choices and don't own them. Her emotional well being was just plain gone. I worried a lot about my Mom. I worried about her health. I worried about her mind. I worried about her soul. I worried about her ability to handle the things life was throwing at her. I worried about how I was ever going to be able to help her. I didn't have any answers. I had all the suggestions and opinions on the world, but no answers. She, like me, has tried every diet in the book. Every trick known to man and even some sea creatures. For a while we were both going to the pool and doing aqua aerobics twice a week. It def helped with her back issues and her mobility, but she still struggled. She lost a bunch of weight on Nutri System...of course she did. That shit is like cardboard and you end up starving yourself while paying out shit loads of money. Only to gain most, if not all, of it back and feel just as miserable as before. Mom had watched me struggle the first W30 I did. And I knew that she probably thought I was a loon for taking on something like this. But this new round was different. I feel amazing. I'm eating delicious foods. I'm not bored. I'm looking better. I'm sleeping better. My mood is level. She approached me about doing the W30 about mid January. So we talked. A lot. For 2 days. She was in. She was ready to change. It isn't easy by any means. There is a lot of cooking and planning. A lot of reading labels and discovering new foods. The first grocery trip was tough on her. It was 2 hours in the store reading labels and checking and double checking foods and lists. I just kept telling her, "Once you get the hang of it you can just walk in and get what you need and be done.". She didn't mind. She just wanted to feel better. Within the first few days she told me her feet felt better. She could walk without to much pain. Then her stomach felt better. After the first week you could look at her and see a change. She stood straighter, taller. She moved easier on her feet. She was less swollen in her face and seemed to genuinely smile more. She has taken this W30 challenge and run with it. She struggles here and there, but shes got this. We have a support group on facebook that we set up and she goes there or straight to me when she has moments.
My Mom is my rock. My best friend. We are both stubbornly opinionated and overly possessive of those we love. She has really really struggled, with lots of things, this year. My one wish for her is just for her to be happy and healthy. I hope she knows just how insanely proud of her I am. How much I love her. How much I support her. How much I strive to be like her. Strong, Intelligent, Proud and Confident.
She is currently on week 3 I believe. She is down 8 lbs. Way to go Mama!
Side Note: On the Whole30 you are NOT supposed to weigh yourself everyday. However, I have found that it helps to keep me accountable. It helps me to know what I need to steer clear of or have less of. (White potatoes stick to me like glue) On this Round, I have allowed myself more fruit and it has helped me immensely.
Sorry this turned into a book! I guess when it comes to this W30 thing I am pretty excited to share my experiences.
I will leave you with a picture of the newest member of our family. Coleslaw!
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