whole 30 – A Glimpse Inside

Baked Cinnamon Apple Chips

Travis and I are doing Whole30 once again and I wanted to try to make some snacks for us instead of buying everything.

I decided to try my hand at making Baked Apple Chips and they were great. So great in fact that they didn’t last 15 minutes once Travis and the girls got their hands on them.

They were really easy to make but they do take a bit of time so plan on making these when you have zero plans for the day.

Ingredients:

-Apples (I used Gala but you can use whichever you like best.)

-Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Start by coring the apple or just slicing it around the core.

I then used my mandolin slicer to thinly slice my apples, with skin on.

If you don’t have a mandolin, just try to cut your apple as thinly as possible.

Spread the slices out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Don’t like cinnamon, no worries! They are still good without it!

Place in the oven and bake for 30-45 mins.

Pull out and flip each slice over. If you like you can sprinkle more cinnamon and then place them back in the oven for another 30-45 mins.

And that’s it!

Some chips will be crispy and some are still a little softer but they are all delicious!

I cut and baked 3 apples but they do shrink down a good amount so next time I will definitely plan on using more apples.

They are seriously so good!

Travis keeps begging me to make more.

allison

June 13, 2016 By Allison

Uncategorized

Our Wheat Free Journey + Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

It started when she was two.

Random early mornings of getting sick were just that random, at first. But then they seemed to have a pattern. Every other morning. Very early in the morning. For a month or two. Then the sickness stopped. Then it would start again. No rhyme or reason.

We went to a GI doctor and he seemed to think she just had reflux. We didn’t want to get her scoped because it seemed to stop by the time we were able to get into see the doctor. Time passed and her random sick moments became fewer and further between. But I did some reading. Lots of reading. Lots of research. Trying to figure out what could be causing these random moments of getting sick.

We started to try to heal and make the random moments not happen by cutting out Red 40. Then we tried to cut out all artificial dyes. It helped. For a bit.

Then we noticed she was getting headaches (which is something her dad and I both suffer with). We didn’t see a real trend. So we weren’t exactly sure what to do. We cut out sugar and stopped eating things with high fructose corn syrup. I no longer bought meats that contained nitrates. We were trying to eat “real” and “clean” food. Then I read more and more about the affects of wheat and heard about the Wheat Belly book and thought it would be a great place to continue our journey. My husband was not thrilled by the idea but once he got on board we went full steam ahead.

We started our wheat free journey in January of 2014. We are not purists. Since no one in our family suffers from Celiac Disease we didn’t take it 100% seriously. We continue to go without wheat for a few months out of the year. But then life gets busy and we take a few short cuts and eat wheat. I will tell you that I feel SO much better when I am not eating wheat. I am not going to get into the science behind it all just check out the Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis if you want the science and great testimonials.

I noticed that my daughter didn’t have as many headaches when she quit eating wheat. My little girls arms cleared up from their bumps. My stomach felt much more at peace and my psoriasis didn’t flare up as much. Now, like I said, we’re not always totally 100% wheat free but we try to eat that way as much as possible. We don’t do it because of Celiac or other disorders but we have found it makes us all feel better when we lay off the wheat. I have learned to bake without wheat and have found some great go-to recipes!

For us it really is about just eating good clean meat with veggies and sweet potatoes. Some times I do use a gluten free noodle but I know not all gluten free products are that great for us either. Trying to eat wheat free has proved to be challenging and time consuming (especially at first) but I have gotten the hang of it now. You should hear my kids reactions when they get to eat a sandwich some place. Since we don’t often eat bread it’s like a huge treat to them. Lunches have been tricky but I think we’ve got it figured out and I’m pretty sure my school aged kids who eat lunch away from home are getting enough to eat even without eating wheat. Again, let me stress that we are not always 100% wheat free and we don’t always even try. But we make a new effort every month or so. We don’t worry about eating wheat free when other people cook for us. We don’t tell them what to make us. Obviously, if one of us was suffering from Celiac or something we would be much more vocal about it when eating away from home.

We are about to start another round of going wheat free next week (my husband’s birthday is tomorrow and he’s asked for gooey butter cake and/or pie so he’ll get his birthday wish!). It was so successful for us in January and then I got lazy again in February. We didn’t fall completely off the horse but we are leaning pretty far. So, in order to jump start our health we will stop eating wheat at home and stay away from it as much as possible when we are out…at least a month at a time.

Maybe you’ve chosen to eat wheat free, or maybe you have someone who suffers from Celiac Disease in your family. I am sure you have found ways to make good healthy food choices and have found what works best for you. Two more books I’ll recommend are Diane Sanfelipo’s Practical Paelo and Brittany Angell’s Every Last Crumb. These books have been very helpful and contain some awesome wheat free recipes that we go back to over and over again.

I also wanted to share with you two “recipes” that are in my regular rotation of dinners around here. I do a stuffed acorn squash and a spaghetti squash in the crock pot!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Pre-heat your oven to 350.
Halve the acorn squash and scoop out the seeds. Put the halves cut side down in a baking dish with a little water. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until soft.
While the halves are baking make your stuffing part. I use ground pork (it’s from our family made brats that we hand stuff at the farm during our annual family “butchering”), sweet peppers, tomato sauce, spinach, garlic and onion. Then once it’s all cooked I add some dried cranberries as well!

Once the acorn squash is soft flip them over, and stuff them with the meat mixture. Then top with some grated cheese and put them back in the oven for about 10 minutes or just until the cheese is melted.

My kids LOVE eating this.
They love the stuffing and love having the squash be the bowl!!

Another great easy wheat free meal is spaghetti with squash!

So I just cut up some brats, add a jar of spaghetti sauce and a big handful of spinach in the bottom of my crock pot.

Then, I cut the spaghetti squash in half (the short way) and scoop out the seeds and then just nestle the squash on top of the meat/sauce/spinach.

I never knew I could just throw this all in the crock-pot until it was served this way to me when I was with my family. I used to cook it all separate! Save yourself lots of time and just throw it all in there together!

Cook on low for 6-8 hours and scoop the spaghetti squash out mix it all together and call it good!

You could use Italian Sausage or ground beef as well.

My kids loved these soft pretzels!

The recipe is in the Wheat Belly Cookbook.

When my son was craving donuts I found a good wheat free recipe online that looked pretty simple to make and we had donuts! We use coconut sugar instead of white sugar (just FYI).

I’m still trying to find the recipe. I’ll link it up when I find it again!

The Wheat Belly cookbook also has a GREAT recipe for pizza crust.

You can actually pick it up with your hands…and if you’ve tried a lot of wheat free pizza crust recipes you know that’s not always the case!

What is your favorite wheat free recipe?

Leave me a comment and let me know. I’m always looking for good, easy wheat free ideas for meals and snacks… so let me have ’em!

Have a blessed week!

This post contains affiliate links.

Connect with Jamie:
Pure Joy Creative // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest

February 24, 2016 By Allison

Uncategorized

My Whole 30 Adventure- Week 4 plus My Before & After Pics

Final week of Whole 30!

I made it to the end! I feel like this month dragged, lol, but I am happy that I made it to the end even though I did slip a little.

Here is a run down at what I ate during my last week.

Day 22:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs with strawberries and bananas

Lunch: Forgot to take a photo but I just ate left over chicken from a few nights before and carrots.

Dinner: I made the Balsamic Roast I created at the start of Whole 30 again and then had green beans and steamed cauliflower and carrots on the side.

Snack: No snacks

Drank water all day

Today was much better. Still not happy with the news we found out yesterday but I have to suck it up and drive on. I am seeing changes in my body so I want to see this through until the end.

Day 23:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach, onion, and bacon bits mixed in.

Lunch: Left over hamburger soup

Dinner: Tacos in lettuce wraps with red onions

Snack: ate some almond, strawberry trail mix

Drank water all day

I recovered from my slip and am sticking through this last week.

Day 24:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Omelet with spinach, bacon, and onions with a side of strawberries and bacon

Lunch: I ate a super late lunch, like practically dinner, of grilled chicken tenders nuggets from chick fil a

Dinner: Since I ate so late, I just nibbled on some left over chicken after I got home.

Snack: no snacks

Drank water all day

I ran errands this afternoon so that is why I ate lunch so late. By the time I got home I wasn’t really hungry so I just nibbled on the chicken after we put the girls to bed that night.

Day 25:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with bananas, strawberries and blueberries

Lunch: Left over hamburger soup

Dinner: We went out to eat after doing some car shopping and I ate grilled chicken and some fresh veggies.

Snacks: almonds

Drank water all day

Need to focus on good things to eat when we eat out. I did well tonight but it was tempting to go a stray.

Day 26:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs with a banana

Lunch: More hamburger soup left overs

Dinner: Steak, roasted sweet potatoes, and green beans

Snack: no snack

Drank water all day

So close yet I feel so far away! I have never been a fan of sweet potato and that really hasn’t changed. Not sure what it is about them but I am just not a fan.

Day 27:

What I ate:

Breakfast: didn’t manage to eat this day

Lunch: Pretty much just a hard boiled egg

Dinner: Zoodle spaghetti with ground beef

Snacks: no snacks

Drank water all day

Crazy day with school, working out, and working on craft projects so food was limited today.

Day 28:

What I ate:

Breakfast: sunny side eggs with cantaloupe

Lunch: no lunch again

Dinner: Pork BBQ minus the sauce on a baked potato

Snacks: no snack

Drank water all day.

I feel like I am struggling all of a sudden. I think since I know that the end is in sight that I am focusing more on that than finishing strong til the end. Hope this goes away so the next two days are easy!

Day 29:

What I ate:

Breakfast: sunny side eggs with strawberries

Lunch: Left over beef brisket with cucumber slices

Dinner: I just made a quick stir fry using pork tenders, then carrots garlic, onions, brussel sprouts, yellow squash, yellow bell pepper (pretty much any veggie I had on hand that I needed to use soon)

Snacks: almonds

Drank water all day

Still thinking about this being almost over but I recovered and ate really well today.

Day 30:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs with banana and grapes

Lunch: Baked potato with left over pulled pork and red onion

Dinner: Beef stew- beef, carrots, onions, garlic, red potato, and cauliflower. Left out the flour and butter for thickening the sauce

Snacks: no snack

Drank water all day

Last day!! I finished and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I am so happy that I stuck with it the entire time even though I may have wavered slightly.

My thoughts and before and afters:

I am super proud of myself that I completed. It was a little rough in the beginning with my sweet tooth but once that went away it wasn’t soooo bad. I will admit that I definitely missed bread, pasta, and chocolate. I normally drink water so that was no big deal.

It has been a few days since we ended and we didn’t exactly reintroduce foods like they suggest. We kinda just dove head first into the shallow end. We ate pasta the first night and it was delicious! lol

I will admit that my skin was fairly clear the whole time I was on Whole 30 and I have noticed that I have a few spots popping up here and there since we completed.

We are going to eat regularly once again but we intend to try to eat Whole 30 meals at least 3 or 4 times a week. I worked out during this entire process and I will be continuing that from here on out as well.

Are you ready to see my before and afters? My horribly embarrassing before and afters?
I would NOT be sharing this with you guys if I didn’t truly see results and truly love you guys because I picked the worst clothes to wear to show the difference.

As you can see, there is definitely a difference in my stomach region. Love handles are practically gone. I feel like my face and legs look thinner as well. I didn’t take measurements before I started but I lost 9 lbs. in a month. That’s pretty darn good if you ask me!!

Belly has definitely flatten. Still needs a little bit of work but I am hoping with continuing to work out and still eating some Whole 30 meals, that too with go away but it is MUCH better!!
My butt is even much smaller. Always nice to work out and not feel things bounce so much. 😉

And one last shot… from behind. Again, I do feel much smaller overall and that was my entire goal during this. I knew I really didn’t have any food problems, besides the acne, so I was doing this to slim down and feel better about myself and I do!

So there you have it folks!
If you have been thinking about trying Whole 30, give it a go!! It really isn’t that bad and the results are fabulous!
I think I may do another Whole 30 in the summer even though we still plan on eating some of the meals just to refresh my body.

February 4, 2015 By Allison

Uncategorized

My Whole 30 Adventure- Week 3

This was suppose to go up on Thursday morning and well, life got in the way and I didn’t finish it in time so a special Friday night post it is.

I’m not gonna lie to you guys, I didn’t do too good this week. I may have cheated once or twice. BOO but I’ll get over it. I am forging on and continuing until the end, cheats or not.

Anyways… here is what I ate this week.

Day 15:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs, banana, hash browns that Travis made

Lunch: Cucumbers with chicken tenders

Dinner: Steak, brussel sprouts, and broccoli and yellow squash

Snacks: a few cashews

Drank water all day

I have noticed a change in my body. Can’t really say I have ever noticed the energy change but I have been super busy so perhaps it is there.

Day 16:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Omelet with bacon and onion (Travis made this for me) and strawberries

Lunch: I ran out to run an errand and pretty much grab a banana on my way out the door and that was my lunch.

Dinner: Hamburger sliders with red onion, butter lettuce, on a white sweet potato bun, grapes and butternut squash as a side

Snack: no snacks but drank some fruit juice after dinner

Drank water all day until the fruit juice in the evening

We were interested to try the sweet potato bun. It was good. Travis made dinner this night and he did fry them in some olive oil before serving them. I have never been a huge butternut squash fan and that pretty much hasn’t change. Blah!

Day 17:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with hamburger and spinach in them. Strawberries, banana, and kiwi

Lunch: Grab something fast and easy in between working on some projects so it was just two hard boiled eggs, chicken tenders with ranch dressing, and cantaloupe.

Dinner: This is where I cheated. Travis and I had a date night out again and I may have enjoyed a cheeseburger (on the bun) with fries. And I may have had a glass of wine. Oops… but it was delicious.

Snacks: no snack

Drank water all day until the glass of wine at dinner

I know I cheated this day. I know there were healthier choices I could have picked at the restaurant we went too or asked for the burger without the bun. I know I could have not had the wine but you know what, it was date night and it was awesome. All well!

Day 18:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs with bacon and blueberries

Lunch: Skipped lunch again today (apparently that is a theme this week) since we were working on some more bathroom projects.

Dinner: Travis made dinner again- He created a stir fry with chicken, red pepper, onion, garlic, and cucumber on the side.

Snacks: almonds

Drank water all day

Day 19:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side up eggs with strawberries, grapes and blueberries.

Lunch: I was working on organizing my craft space so just grabbed two hard boiled eggs to eat quickly.

Dinner: Pork chops with green beans and carrots.

Snack: Cashews and Almonds

Drank water all day

Day 20:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side eggs and banana and strawberries

Lunch: Lettuce wraps with baked chicken breast pieces, carrots, hard boiled eggs, and red onion

Dinner: I slow cooked a whole chicken, then had mini red and golden potatoes that I pan fried in olive oil and oven roasted asperagus.

Snack: no snacks

Drank water all day

Even though I cheated over the weekend, glad I am back on track.

Day 21:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and banana- actually ended up not eating the banana after all.

Lunch: We found out some not so great news that morning so I MAY have cheated once again and ate Mac and Cheese for lunch because I needed some good old comfort food. It was a rough day of crying and I was stressing out over other issues so I chose to eat that and I am not sorry one bit!!

Dinner: I made The Pioneer Woman’s Hamburger Soup in the crock pot. First time I made it and it was really good. Will probably add this to future menus.

Snacks: no snacks

Drank water all day and Travis may have poured me some wine since we were both so upset with the news.

I cheated again today and truthfully, I don’t care. It was a super rough day after finding out the news and I was stressing over other things. I cried numerous times so when it came to lunch I was making the girls the mac and cheese and decided what the hell, I am eating it too. I would have eaten ice cream or anything this day. All well. It is what it is… time to get back on track to finish this Whole 30 strong!

I have continued working out. I even started some new stair workouts I found online. They kick my butt but it is nice to try something new.

allison

January 24, 2015 By Allison

Uncategorized

My Whole 30 Adventure- Week 2

Today I am sharing my 2nd week on Whole 30.
What I ate, the highs, the lows, the whatever…

Day 8:

What I ate:

Breakfast: sunny side up eggs, and a banana

Lunch: the girls and I were running errands this day so I grab a salad topped with chicken from McDonald’s and brought it home and used my own ranch dressing on it.

Dinner: Slow Cooker Pork Roast, brussel sprouts, and carrots

Snacks: almonds and pistachios
Drank water all day

I am getting to the point where my meals are holding me longer. I still get slightly hungry after dinner so that is normally when I have my snack. I also feel like my sweet tooth is going away. Haven’t noticed a swing in energy yet OR that foods taste differently. People on Whole 30 always talk about their tastes buds coming alive and I can’t say that is happening.

Day 9:

What I ate:

Breakfast: sunny side up eggs with grapes and strawberries

Lunch: Leftover pork roast on a baked potato with red onions and ranch dressing on top. Then carrots and ranch dressing for dipping.

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash boat- topped with ground beef, onions, garlic, and Whole 30 compliant spaghetti sauce.

Snacks: banana

Drank water all day.

I slept TERRIBLY the night before. Couldn’t fall asleep or stay asleep very well. Was in a not so good mood as well. Also, my face is starting to break out really bad right now. Assuming this is the “gets worse before it gets better phase” but regardless it still stinks.

Day 10:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Omelet with spinach, bacon, and red onion. Bacon on the side.

Lunch: Travis grabbed us some lunch while he was out and I forgot to take a picture… grilled chicken tenders and fries.

Dinner: Grass fed steak, carrots, and green beans

Snacks: no snack today
Drank water all day

We were busy finishing up our bathroom and I had to run to the grocery store so it was a pretty good day. I slept horribly again the night before so that totally sucks along with my face breaking out. No added energy but it probably doesn’t help I haven’t slept well in two days.

Day 11:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, strawberries, and chicken and apple sausage

Lunch: We were busy in the bathroom finishing it up and I was cleaning it so I didn’t really eat lunch. I did eat some cashews and 2 hard boiled eggs before running out to the store.

Dinner: Baked chicken breasts, zucchini, and red potatoes with ghee

Snacks: Banana sprinkled with cinnamon, mango

Drank water all day

I was a little irritated today. Not sure why. Slept better last night. Still no change in energy or tastes in food.

Day 12:

What I ate:

Breakfast: Sunny side up eggs with banana, strawberries, and blueberries

Lunch: Left over pork roast, sliced cucumber, and 2 hard boiled eggs

Dinner: Cauliflower fried rice… with chicken breast, peas, red pepper, carrots, egg, onion, garlic

Snacks: grapes and a banana

Drank water all day

Second week of working out again was today. Did pretty well but still am not noticing more energy. My face is starting to clear up a little. I haven’t noticed a change in my tastes buds BUT I am trying, eating, and some what enjoying foods that I wouldn’t in the past. I never eat blueberries and I tried them after shopping the other day and then as you notice, they were part of my breakfast. Same with the mango from yesterday. So perhaps something is happening to them.

Day 13:

What I ate:

Breakfast: over easy eggs with strawberries and grapes

Lunch: Baked potato topped with ghee and left over meat from the stuffed cabbage I made last week and then ranch dressing. Along with carrots and ranch dressing for dipping.

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash stir fry… red onions, carrots, chicken, garlic, and broccoli and a tiny bit of organic beef broth and ghee to coat the noodles.

Snacks: almonds

Drank water all day

I am pretty happy with the fact that my sweet tooth is pretty much gone. Not gonna lie that I wouldn’t eat a piece of chocolate in a heartbeat but the horrible urge to eat something is behind me. YAY!

Day 14:

What I ate:

Breakfast: sunny side up eggs with strawberries and bananas (Can you tell I enjoy these eggs? They are fast and easy which is good in the morning having to deal with the girls.)

Lunch: Left over pork roast tacos in a romaine lettuce wrap, topped with red onions and ranch dressing. Carrots and ranch on the side.

Dinner: Beef stew… beef, small red and gold potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peas. This kinda turned more into a beef and vegetable soup since I couldn’t use flour to thicken it but it didn’t really matter, it was just as good!

Snacks: Pistachios and kiwi (another fruit I wouldn’t have eaten before this)

Drank water all day. Tried a new fruit juice.

YAY! I have survived 2 weeks of the Whole 30!
Not saying it has been easy but it isn’t horrible. I need to work on dinners or at least the time we are eating dinner. We ate pretty late a lot this week but I can work on that. Again, thrilled the sweet tooth faded away. Still haven’t noticed energy boost but whatever. I have noticed an ever so slight change in my body so I am curious to see what will happen by day 30.

allison

January 15, 2015 By Allison

Uncategorized

My Whole 30 Adventure- Week 1

I decided to try out Whole 30 and began the journey on January 1st.

I told Travis about it and he was all excited to do it with me so we are tackling it together.

I work out, though I am just starting to get back into a good routine after the holidays, but I wanted to do something more to help me slim down the areas that I am not too thrilled about. I could use some improvements so I thought I would give Whole 30 a try. Can’t be too bad right?!

I am going to share my journey here on a weekly basis.

Share how I am feeling, any struggles, and what we ate.

And in case you are wondering, the girls are eating what we eat. I am not making and serving two meals. They will probably eat something different than me for lunch since they are napping when I eat and I am sure their breakfasts will be different from time to time as well because I don’t think I can get them to eat some form of eggs everyday but they will ALWAYS eat the same dinner that we eat.

And I just want to state, I am going to try to follow the Whole 30 program exactly but if something accidentally slips in that I’m not suppose to have, like I missed an ingredient on a label, I’m not going to freak out about it. Nobody is perfect, right?!

Also, I am no food blogger. I didn’t take the time to make the food on my plate “pretty” so sorry! 😉

Day 1: January 1st.

What I ate:

Breakfast: I made a frittata with eggs, hash browns, red pepper, onion, and bacon that fits into the terms of Whole 30. Then baked bacon as a side.

Lunch: I was taking down Christmas decorations so I went with something quick… cucumbers, carrots, and cauliflower with a chicken and spinach sausage (from Target, Simple Balanced Brand.)

Dinner: Made a Balsamic pot roast with steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower) as a side. This was very yummy, even the girls loved it so this will definitely be made again and probably kept as a meal after our 30 days is complete.

Snacks: A few pistachios and a banana

Drank water all day.

First day… I was excited and nervous to start this journey. Surely I can stick to it but eek!

I woke up and made breakfast but became nauseous while cooking it because I was so hungry (a problem that I have dealt with my whole life). It was very difficult for me to NOT grab something super fast and easy like my usual Nutrigrain Bar to just get something in my stomach to make myself feel better but I didn’t and once breakfast went into the oven, I sat down for a bit until it was ready. Luckily, I did manage to get my food down and began to feel better.

Breakfast held me for a few hours but I definitely was ready for lunch when it was time to eat again.

And I felt the same way about dinner, I was definitely ready to eat. Not sure why though, I feel like even though I am eating clean, I am still eating a good amount of food. I am full after I eat but feel hungry not long after I complete a meal. That’s rough.

I will say this though… I definitely wanted to snack! Or just have a piece of chocolate! We normally have a bowl of small Dove candies that we will grab one to eat after a meal and not being able to do that was tough! Guess that is a habit we should break.

I was snacky but I was good.

And I felt hungry a lot this day. I so hope that changes because it makes it hard when you are trying to be good.

Day 2: January 2nd

What I ate:

Breakfast: Travis made breakfast for me this day. He made some over easy eggs, with strawberries and banana as a side dish.
Travis ate the strawberries and banana but made himself an egg in an avocado bowl.

Lunch: I made a salad with cucumbers, cauliflower, carrots, and red onions. Then Whole 30 approved (Tessemae’s Southwest Ranch) dressing on the side. Not a fan of the dressing. A little too spicy for a salad so I will definitely be attempting to make my own ranch dressing.

Dinner: We made zoodles (zucchini noodles) with Whole 30 approved sauce and chicken Italian meatballs.

Snacks: some almonds and pistachios

Drank water all day

Today was a little better in the hungry department. Breakfast lasted a lot longer for me today. I was ready for lunch but wasn’t like NEEDING it. I was ready for dinner and was feeling hungry but it wasn’t too bad. I did feel like dinner didn’t hold me very long and I was hungry only a couple hours after. That is when I snacked on the nuts.

Still just want a piece of chocolate but I have ignored it even though it would taste delicious. lol

Day 3: January 3rd

What I ate:

Breakfast: I just ate the leftover frittata from day 1 with some grapes and bacon. Travis made himself some egg white scrambled eggs with spinach and ham with strawberries and blueberries.

Lunch: We were busy finishing putting down tile in our master bathroom so lunch was skipped this day.

Dinner: Travis and I went out this night for our anniversary. We went to a Mexican restaurant and we split a fajita but ate it without the tortilla.

No snacks this day.

Drank water all day.

Today wasn’t too bad. Breakfast held me a while which was great since I ended up skipping lunch. Luckily, I haven’t had a headache yet from the lack of sugar. We really didn’t eat or drink THAT much sugar so hopefully I won’t get one. And after stating that… I STILL want that piece of chocolate. lol

Day 4: January 4th

What I ate:

Breakfast: Two sunny side eggs with home made hash browns with red pepper, onion, and bacon in them.

Lunch: 3 Grilled chicken tenders, 2 hard boiled eggs, and some cucumber slices.

Dinner: We made up our own little skillet meal- ground turkey with sliced egg plant, red pepper, and onion. Then sliced up some cantaloupe as a side.

Snacks: Pistachios

Drank water all day.

Pretty good day I guess. Food held me pretty well but was ready to eat when it was time for my next meal. I was super hungry not long after dinner though and that is when the pistachios came out. I have yet to feel the extra energy or perhaps I am just not noticing it. Not sure. Still no headache. Yay!

Day 5: January 5th

What I ate:

Breakfast: I made myself come scrambled eggs with spinach and red onion. Ate some left over hash browns from day 4 and then sliced a banana.

Lunch: Needing something super quick because I was working on some projects so I ate some 3 more grilled chicken tenders and 2 hard boiled eggs.

Dinner: Hamburger on lettuce bun with red onion. Homemade baked fries, and cucumber.

Snack: Banana sprinkled with cinnamon with some almond butter

Drank water all day

Pretty good day again. Meals held me pretty well. Sill have yet to notice if I have more energy or not. Don’t really feel like it. Still would LOVE chocolate. I’m not going to lie, I miss it! But I think we found the magical snack that will help curve that sweet tooth. The banana and cinnamon with almond butter was very delicious so that may be my go to snack when I am just dying for something sweet.

Day 6: January 6th

What I ate:

Breakfast: Strawberry banana smoothie made with almond milk.

Lunch: Lettuce wraps with turkey lunch meat, thinly sliced carrots, cucumbers, and red onions.

Dinner: Tacos with lettuce wraps and red onions.

Snacks: Hard Boiled Egg

Drank water all day other than when I had the smoothie.

Today was a rough day. It was the first day that Miss P went back to preschool so I was a little thrown off schedule wise. Travis made the smoothie while I was dropping her off at school so I drank that when I got home. I wanted to work out and get a shower in before I had to pick her back up so I decided not to eat anything else for breakfast. I was pretty hungry by the time I had to go get her from school. Got her home, gave the girls lunch, which I TOTALLY wanted a bite of their mac and cheese, but grabbed the hard boil egg to get something in my belly until I could eat after the girls went down for a nap. Put them down and I finally grabbed some lunch. It was really good but it didn’t hold me that long and was SO ready for dinner.
Not gonna lie- I even had a small melt down today around figuring out what I wanted to eat for lunch and totally wanted to give up. Arg!!! I was sluggish today and felt super tired. Need to figure out better breakfast for these days.

Day 7: January 7th

What I ate:

Breakfast: Simple scrambled eggs with grape, strawberries, and cantaloupe.

Lunch: Baked potato with Ghee topped with leftover taco meat from the night before, red onion, and homemade Ranch dressing. The carrots with ranch for dipping.

Dinner: Stuffed cabbage (ground beef, carrots, onion, garlic, pepper) with homemade tomato sauce, steamed yellow squash, mashed potatoes. This doesn’t look like a good meal but it was really good.

I made the Ranch dressing today. I was nervous about it but it was really good.

No snacks for the day.

Drank water all day.

The day overall was much better than yesterday in the hunger department. Today was a busy day so I went for the quick lunch and it was really good. Will probably do that again at some point. Dinner was very good and that is coming from someone that hated cabbage growing up. Miss S loved it, Miss P not so much. I am glad today was better than yesterday without another melt down. But even after all this time, I just want a piece of chocolate, or ice cream, or a cupcake, or ANYTHING! lol

Well, that is the recap for my first week on Whole 30. Praying I can make it the next 3. It really isn’t THAT hard but I am already tired of thinking about my food so much and having to study food labels like no other. But I guess the end result is what I am really going for! I got back into a good workout routine so hopefully that will help me out as well to get that end result. I am looking forward to seeing if I notice any improvement in my skin. I have fought acne my whole life and I hate it so I am hoping I will notice a change in that on top of the body changes. Also, looking forward to the day I feel a little more energy.

Today starts our week 2 so stay tuned for my Week 2 recap.

allison

January 8, 2015 By Allison