Wholly Done Whole30

I'm thrilled to say I'm done with Whole30!

Over the past 60 days, I've done 2 rounds of Whole30.  In both sets of 30 days, I had some slip ups that I didn't realize, as well as just a few flat out "I know this isn't Whole30 compliant, but I don't care" moments. I'm not proud of those moments, but at least I'm honest :-)

Pros and cons of my Whole30 experience.

Pros
- learning what a spaghetti squash and butternut squash are, and am now able to cooked them successfully.  I have enjoyed incorporating new whole foods into our diet more regularly.

- benefitting from the nutritious healthy fats in avocados!  I've eaten more avocados in the past 60 days than I ever have in my whole life.  I can't say that I like avocado now, but I eat a little bit almost every morning now with my eggs, and feel it helps me feel full til lunch.

- a slight improvement in my acne, but that could also be due to smiling more, drinking turmeric (yeah right), using a different face wash, or or even the weather.  I really couldn't say if it was due to eating more 'real food' but perhaps it could be.

- a slight improvement in energy levels - I have a bit more stamina now than I did before.

- it fit my all or nothing personality - I'm an "all or nothing" kind of person, so having a diet plan that tells you 'Absolutely no' to certain things was helpful for me as opposed to a plan that says, 'just a little bit.'

Cons:
- my obsession over food - During my Whole30 experience, I started to think about food almost pretty much all the time.  And I became a food nazi.  It started out okay, but became more destructive than helpful. Ask my husband.

- failing my perfectionistic mentality - Because this plan worked well with my "all or nothing," personality, it backfired when I failed.  When I failed with Whole30 unconsciously or otherwise, I was really hard on myself, felt like I would never do it completely right, and convinced myself that getting Whole30 right was somehow all of the sudden the ultimate goal in all of life!

- my need to plan, and my plans that fail- The goal is healthy food. And planning helps greatly with that. But when life demands a deviation from the plan and relationships are at stake, it might be wise to choose the "quick & still pretty healthy" option over the "it'll take forever to cook, but it's all organic and you'll surely have super powers if you eat it" option. I'm just sayin.

Enjoying a few bites of guilt free fro-yo this past weekend
with my handsome man!

- my insane craving for sugar - In the Whole30 world, they call it the "dragon." I found that refusing to allow myself something sweet once in a while (like honey in tea), resulted in more anger and frustration than it was worth.  Cutting out all sugar did reveal my 'dependence' on sweet things in an unhealthy way, and my plan moving forward is to limit these more than I did in the past.  But I'm also going to allow myself some truvia in my cup of tea, and not feel guilty about it.

- my negative mood - Part of the reason I started Whole30 in the first place was to try and balance my hormones.  I wanted to see if it could improve my mood, which generally has more lows than highs. If anything, my mood was worse the entire time I was doing Whole30. Other Whole30 followers shared that their mood never got better either, so I'm not the only one.  Either way, my mood has been so much better since I stopped Whole30, so there's something to be said about that!

CONCLUSION and FUTURE PLAN:
I'm glad I did Whole30.  I'm thankful for what I learned, even through the hard things.  But I'm glad it's over and I don't plan to do another strict Whole30 process anytime soon.  That being said, I'm still planning to limit dairy, almost all sugar, beans, and most gluten products, at least for a while.  I will strive to eat healthy, but I hope to come out from under the control of food, and work towards a balanced perspective that allows for a little sweetness here and there :-)

Just when you think you're doing the right thing...

Probably a year ago, I started learning about turmeric.

I read about it's many health benefits.  Three caught my attention.  I read that turmeric could do the following:

1- decrease acne

2- improve mood

3- increase fertility

At first, I made a yellow paste to put on my face which didn't help my acne, but rather stained my face yellow for several hours.  Other than that, I didn't really do much with the information.

Finally, a couple weeks ago, I decided it was time to invest more deeply, and start ingesting the bitter powder.

So, I made a hot drink with almond milk, a few other spices and turmeric.

In spite of what people claimed about it's "silky" flavor, it was gross.

I mean, "silk" isn't a flavor anyway, it's a kind of fabric.

What inspired me to drink it in the first place were the things I read online like:

"Here's a spice you might already have in your pantry that will support your reproductive health and boost your chances of getting pregnant!  What is it?"  Turmeric!” https://www.floliving.com/boost-fertility-with-food/"

"Research shows that turmeric has medicinal benefits for treating inflammatory conditions of the joints, muscles and nerves, autoimmune inflammation, autoimmune fertility health conditions and may be helpful for those dealing with fertility health conditions like: PCOS, Endometriosis, Uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, premenstrual pain, etc."http://natural-fertility-info.com/turmeric-for-fertility.html

The only good thing about turmeric is
drinking it from a Disney
mug...which...nearly got
stained by the awful yellow stuff!

So, believing everything I read on the World Wide Web, I started making a daily concoction of Turmeric.

I eventually ditched the almond milk, and instead mixed water, turmeric, lemon juice and pepper, because pepper is supposed to make it more potent, or allow it to more easily absorb into your blood stream or something like that.  I didn't use any sweetener or vanilla extract because I'm also doing Whole30 right now which forbids those.

So yeah, it tasted pretty terrible.

For starters, it definitely didn't improve my mood. In fact, my husband Jason can tell you just how bad of a mood I was in every time I had to drink it!

But I was determined (aka: stubborn, strong-willed).

So I continued to dirty up a blender every day to drink this disgusting stuff.

Until today.

Today, for some reason I looked it up online again: turmeric and infertility, that is.

Now, please know that this is probably the hundredth time I've looked this topic up, so I did do my research before drinking it the first time.  But for some reason, new websites began to appear this time around.  Or maybe they were old, but they were definitely ones I hadn't seen before.

My heart just kinda stopped when I read things for the first time like:

Turmeric is traditionally used as a contraceptive tool to prevent pregnancy. http://www.turmeric.com/womens-health/herbal-birth-control-fertility-protection”

Before modern science invented today’s methods of controlling childbirth people were using herbal based natural remedies. Turmeric was also used as one. Turmeric can be used to block conception.  According to Ayurveda, taking 4-5 gms of turmeric every day during periods will prevent pregnancy during next ovulation period!"http://www.turmericforhealth.com/turmeric-benefits/how-turmeric-benefits-female-reproductive-systemx

Really?

Seriously?

Is this right?

This must be a joke!?

There couldn't be more conflicting information!

Regardless of how accurate anything was or is, if you were me reading this information, you would have wanted to just sit down and cry in shock and disappointment.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:9

I'm sure that God has, and will continue to call me to hard things, but I'm convinced that drinking turmeric is not one of them.

After all the things I've read on both sides of the spice, I can't even say if turmeric would help or prevent pregnancy, but who really can say that anyway?

I do know that it has had negative effects on my mood, which I know (or thought I knew), can affect pregnancy, not to mention my marriage, and overall perspective on life!

I regret the gallon or more I've already consumed, but I'm relieved that I am not planning to swallow any more of it!  At least not until someone or something that is qualified and knows all things tells me otherwise.  So yeah, not ever again.

What is healthy?

My current library books

Last weekend, Jason asked me, 'Have you been reading any good books lately?"

I looked at the stack of library books on my nightstand and said, "I seem to have taken an interest in the genre of cooking books... I like them because they have short chapters and most of them have pictures :-)"

I have started a collection of recipes from cookbooks I get from the library.  Flipping through actual pages is a nice break from surfing through webpage after webpage.

My goal is to choose recipes that:
- sound good
- ones that I already have all of the ingredients for
- and ones that are healthy.

And yet, what does 'healthy' mean these days?

I typically look up books on the library's website, reserve them, and then I can easily stop in, grab the books with my name on them and check-out.

But recently, I stopped in and checked out the health/food section in the library to see if there were any pertinent titles that didn't come up in the online search.

Just "SOME" of the health food books
or cookbooks at my local library!

I discovered there were hundred of books on the topic of eating healthy.

Talk about overwhelming!

High-fiber, gluten free, vegan, low fat, cancer fighting, glycemic index, whole grain, flour-free...

The options are endless.

How can one figure out which food is right to eat?

I'm currently on Round 2, Day 10 of this Whole30 lifestyle.

It's been a bit easier this time around.

I know more about what's allowed and what's not.

I don't have as much to overcome in terms of saying 'no' to sugar.

I eat sweet potatoes and avocados on purpose (I still don't like avocados).

And I know how to cook a spaghetti squash.

But is Whole30 the best choice when it comes to eating healthy?  It is the best choice for me?  I can't say for sure.

The things I've hoped it would have a positive effect on haven't much changed.  And there have been some negative side-effects like feeling hungry, constantly thinking about food, and being overall more grouchy.

So, it's definitely not been easy, and I'm not sure I'll continue after this round.

But, I have another 20 days to go on this round, and I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person, so I'm sticking it out for the rest of this one.

So what is healthy?  Is it Whole30?  Is it not?

All I know is that every diet or healthy lifestyle book or website I've read seems to have pros and cons.

Each one seems to have a bit of awesome-ness mixed in with something that just doesn't work well.

Could this be because God created food for our benefit, and yet it too has suffered the consequences of the curse?

What I mean is that while something may have immense nutritional value, it might be insanely difficult to eat it (i.e. spaghetti squash).

While something might actually burn calories just by chewing it, it really just tastes disgusting (i.e. celery).

While something might taste absolutely delicious, it's just not good for us in any way (peanut butter pie...or, dare I say, the dearly cherished and sorely missed flavored coffee cream)

I believe that everything God created is good, including food!

But it has all been tainted or tarnished by the Fall.

I'm guessing that Adam and Eve's spaghetti squash was not as hard to cut.  I bet their celery tasted like a Snicker's bar.  And anything that tasted good was actually good for them.

So what hope is there for us now, in terms of food, post-curse?

The hope is in the longing for Heaven.  Even the best food we can cook up here won't compare to the food we will eat at the marriage supper of the lamb (that is the feast we will have in Heaven).

We will all like all the food there.  It will all be so good.  We will even be able to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 2:7).  Can you just imagine what that will taste like?

So for now, I will press on into the spaghetti squash (literally), and will be thankful for healthy things that are easy (spinach leaves in a salad).

And while I continue to cut, slice, fry and bake here on earth, I will think about the heavenly food we will one day eat.  I will think about how it will not cause injury to eat it (another blog post on that later), it will all be good for us, and it will all taste delicious.

Every. Single. Bite.

Cookie dough. Aka: Day 28 fail.

Cookies for my cousins...or...for me?

"You are worse off than you think you are."

Yesterday was Day 28 (of Whole30).

I have a confession.

There's no way around it.  Last night, I ruined my whole30 diet.

I ate 3 spoonfuls...yes, spoonfuls of incredibly delectable raw chocolate chip cookie dough.

It was completely cheating and I can't believe I did it.

But, it was insanely scrumptious.
To die for.
And in the moment had absolutely no regrets.

I do now, of course.

How could I only have 2 days left of a 30 day diet, and just flat out ruin it in 5 minutes?

Well, I did.

I learned first hand is that it's really easy to mess up something really quickly.


But that's not even the worst of it.

All month long, I've assumed that I am doing a good thing depriving myself of peanut butter and training myself to settle for sunflower seed butter.

That would have been okay except that the sunflower seed butter I have been eating nearly every other day has SUGAR in it!  What!?  I don't know how I missed it.

But I did.

So, I have been unconsciously cheating on my whole30 diet almost since the beginning.  #areyouserious #epicfail

On the way to church this morning, I listed the ways I failed the diet.

Jason said, "Why can't we focus on all the good thing that happened over the past 28 days?"

"evaporated cane syrup" = sugar = not compliant

I said, "Because I wanted perfection.  And that didn't happen."

Story of my life.

I strive for perfection.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It is just an impossible thing.

Nothing can ever be entirely perfect here.
Everything is flawed.
Everything is tainted.

When will I submit this frustrating reality to the Lord and lean on His perfection in my weakness?

I'm sure it will take a lifetime to grasp this.

Knowing that the past 28 days haven't been perfect and the next 30 won't be either:

I am starting a new round of whole30 tomorrow (Monday March 14).

Thanks for following a bit of my journey and for encouraging me in the next round!!

Remembering...and Egg McEno Muffins!

In thinking about pressing into Week 3 of Whole30, I want to look back and celebrate some of the delicious victories that have filled my stomach!

But before I do, I want to share a little of what I think the Bible has to say about looking back and moving forward.

I actually found very few verses about learning form the past, and looking back.  In fact, I found the opposite:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead... - Philippians 3:13

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:62

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.- Isaiah 43:18-19

The list goes on.

I realized that God is a forward thinking God.  He loves to bring us new mercies every morning.  He gave us a 24 hour day because an hour longer might crush us -- we need new starts, fresh beginnings quite regularly.  He doesn't want us to look back.  He wants us to move forward.

He is most certainly the God of the past and the present, but He is also God of the future.  He wants us to receive his mercy and grace and move confidently in His strength into the day that is before us.

While thankful for the past He has brought us through, He has work for us still to do, and wants us to follow Him into it.

Still, I know that the word "Remember" exists many times in the Bible, so I did a search to see what exactly we are supposed to remember.

This is what I found:

"But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. - Deuteronomy 8:18

Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations... - 1 Chronicles 15:13

When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." - Genesis 9:15

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead... - 2 Timothy 2:8

Then God remembered Rachel, and He gave heed and opened her womb. - Genesis 30:22

It appears all of the remembering in the Bible is either a charge to us to remember the Lord and his covenant, or is God himself remembering something.

I fully understand the command for us to remember the Lord and his covenant - this very reflection is what gets me through challenging times!

But what does it mean for God to remember something?  It's not like God ever forgets anything, so why is this?

From reading a bit of an article on Ligonier's website, about the verse, "God remembered Noah...," The phrase, "God remembered" means that what He has promised long ago, He is going to act on.

God's "remembering" represents the very action of God about to play itself out.

I want to remember the Lord and the strength He has given me to be creative, frugal and determined over the past 2 weeks as I've wrestled with this Whole30 diet.

And in sharing it, my hope is that you will see the Lord at work in it!

So...here's a bit of what we've been eating lately.

#1: C5  (aka: Curried Chicken, Cauliflower and Carrots in Coconut Milk)
This was the first time ever using coconut milk.  How have I missed making food with this before!?

Cauliflower and carrots and chicken.  I think that was it! 

#2: Chili for forever!

I decided to make a big batch of Chili to freeze so we could have it on hand.  I told Jason I was making Chili to last forever.  Funny how it never does last that long.

It is not grass-fed, or organic...but it is 93% lean, on sale at Aldi's.

Peppers, onions, celery...Colorful things make me smile!

Onions, Celery, Carrots

Onion celery, carrots, red/yellow/green pepper

Glorious spices!

Add it all together and what have you got!  The bulk of what will eventually be chili!

 #4: Spaghetti Squash Seedies
We had round 2 of spaghetti squash and around that time, I had the munchies like you don't even know.  I thought, these seeds look pretty good....so, looked up a recipe, and before you know, the were toasted, and salted and in my mouth.  YUM.  Messy to get out of the spaghetti...but very rewarding!

#5: Jason's Steak
By the time Saturday came, I decided I couldn't cook another meal.  Jason volunteered.  Love that man!  Steak on the grill, asparagus on the grill, and sweet potato slices in the oven.  I could eat this every night.

#6: Egg McEno Muffin

Saw this idea and tried it...It worked brilliantly, except I did cook them a little too long. They were still edible, and nice to heat up quickly in the morning.  But the muffin pan took 3 rounds of soaking the clean it.  #needmuffinliners 

Stand firm and you will win life #Whole30

16 days into my WHOLE30 experiment.

How's it going so far?

Week 1 was mostly easy.  I was motivated, excited, prepared.  I'm not sure how to describe it, but I felt like my body was really only full of stuff that was supposed to be there and junk stuff was minimal.  I felt clean and overall well.

Week 2 was HARD.  My mood was down, my stomach was starving most of the day and at night.  All I could think about was food.  I made good meals with fat and protein, but was still hungry.  Plus my digestive system seemed very messed up.  And I was tired most of the time too.

I felt very off balance and very frustrated.

Honestly, I nearly quit the whole thing.  

On Saturday, I was feeling sick in my stomach, so I indulged in a bowl of Trader Joe's creamy tomato soup.  It actually settled my stomach, and gave me great delight to have my system back on track so quickly.

But of course mentally, I feel like I have to start the WHOLE30 all over again because I slipped and ate something non-compliant!

Thankfully, every day is a new day.

While I'm still counting myself as in the middle of my first round of WHOLE30, I know I have made some mistakes along the way.

Still, I have denied myself a great many things and made more new healthy food in the past two weeks than in the past year.

I consider that a success and reason to continue.

In thinking about pressing on, I came across this verse:

"Stand firm, and you will win life." -- Luke 21:19

The context for this is right in the middle of a talk that Jesus is giving his disciples on the end times.

He is warning them of the insults and persecution that will come because they are His followers.

Later he says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

I think Jesus wants his followers to know that in His strength, they can stand firm.
In His strength, they can persevere in the midst of the failing world around them.

But because Jesus knows they will not be able to stand firm or persevere perfectly, He has promised them His Word.

When they do struggle, when they do feel overwhelmed, when they do want to give up, His Word is something that will never fail them.

It will remain forever.

In terms of my WHOLE30 journey, I want to stand firm on the science and the health gurus out there, but I do not want to put my faith in them!

I want to put my faith in God's Word - the only thing which will remain forever, regardless of how healthy I might be!

Whole 30 On the road & PCALT

What do you get when you combine a Whole30 diet and the PCA Women's Ministry Leadership Training?

A slight backslide in physical health goals, but a giant step forward spiritually!

Last week, I was in Atlanta for a PCA* Women's Ministry Leadership Training and so I didn't have complete control over what I ate.  Well, I had control over what I put in my mouth, but I didn't always have control over what what options I had to choose from.

Breakfast was easy - scrambled eggs every day, and some fruit.

Lunches and dinner were whatever was in front of me, minus any bread or rice, or grits!  We're in the south ya'll.

Typically, meals consisted of salad, some kind of meat and steamed vegetables (pictured).

So, minus the sauce on the meat, I think I did pretty well. I was still a bit hungry and night and craved something sweet.

I brought some sunflower seed butter from home.  I packed it in a smaller container because peanut butter doesn't make it through TSA security checkpoints- I've tried that before!

I scooped the sunflower seed butter onto slices of apples that I also brought along.  Delicious.

I also took along the approved but expensive Larabars I had picked up the week before just to have on hand.

All my snacks were delicious and helped fill me up and curb cravings for the desserts!

Speaking of desserts... Cheesecake, cookies, and muffins all called to me each day -- but I refused.

I had to physically walk away from the cheesecake table in order to resist, but I will say I am quite proud of myself for not giving in to that particular temptation!

However, I did make one intentional choice to stray from the Whole30 on the last night.

We had a voucher to use; so I got a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks with an extra pump of White Chocolate.

It was a joy to watch my mom in action, as she is the Regional Coordinator
for the Northeast region and has several responsibilities throughout the weekend.

Oh my.
So, so good.
I only regret it a little tiny bit.

So, although I've done pretty well, I haven't kept the diet perfectly.

I am still learning what is allowed, and what is not, and of course still developing self-control and the will to say no!

What I did learn from the Leadership Training in Atlanta was that there are a whole bunch of PCA women in this country who are energized by God's Word and who care deeply for the women of the church.

Some of the women have the same struggles as I do, while others have complete different and unique hardships.

Some women are a part of large congregations with a variety of women's ministries, while others, like me(!) are in small church plants just trying to figure out where to start.

Some women have been in the PCA their whole life, while others are new.

Deep Biblical truths, the challenge to look to Jesus, and the encouragement that we are not alone encompassed the weekend.

What a privilege to soak in the rich history that the Lord has given, to realize the challenges that face us today are not insurmountable, and to rejoice in hope of the things to come!

PCA (Presbyterian Church of America, not PCUSA)

Avocado. (Whole 30 - Day 5)

The last avocado I bought was over a year ago.  I never ate it for fear of the thing.

I just couldn't bring myself to even cut it open.

Since I had paid for it, I couldn't stand to throw it away, but it finally got to the point where that was definitely the better of the two options.  #avocadofail

All that to say, breakfast this morning was pretty remarkable.

And... well, healthy.

I baked an egg inside an avocado  - one for Jason, one for me.

Honestly, it is not bad tasting, but still not my favorite food in the world.

I just don't enjoy the mushy texture.

Knowing it's healthy for me makes it tolerable.

And salt and pepper help too.

And honestly, I feel like a gourmet chef so far following Whole30 so that's nice.

And, I rewarded myself with strawberries, bananas, nectarine, and blueberries!

And I didn't feel hungry at all til lunchtime, so that was a bonus.

#yayavocadofat #yaywhole30

The famous Spaghetti Squash! (Whole30 - Day 4)

Breakfast was eggs, scrambled, with spinach.  No big deal.

Lunch was spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts, and a homemade strawberry vinaigrette.  Probably will become a staple for my lunches.

But Dinner was... definitely a TEAM EFFORT!

Yesterday, I attempted to cut into a spaghetti squash.

Have you ever done this?

It is HARD.  The thing is like a rock.  I was shocked.

A friend of mine had told me, "It's hard to cut into."  She made this comment a couple of times.  I didn't take her seriously and thought to myself, "Does she think I'm weak or something?"

Well.  Now I know.

In desperation, I posted this picture on facebook.
Jason later told me it looks like a horror movie cover!

I was blown away by the comments by all of you!  21 comments by some healthy people not only told me exactly what to do, but also encouraged me on this healthy-whole30-food journey.  What fun to read the comments and hear your stories!

So, without further adieu, here are your comments on the Spaghetti Squash!

Scroll down to see how it came out after I made it!!!  Spoiler alert: it was perfect!

So, I ended up utilizing the microwave + strong husband strategy, and voila!

It opened.

Truth be told, Jason is my hero every day, but on this day especially, he couldn't have impressed me any more.

Once I had the spaghetti squash opened, I coated it in olive oil, put it in the oven face-up, and set the timer for 50 minutes (on 375)

Then I had to figure out what we were going to eat with it.  I knew I had a lot to choose from in the fridge.

So I looked up a few recipes, and literally decided to combine them all together :-)

I cut up red and yellow peppers, sugar snap peas, onions, and threw them in a skilled with some garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Then I cut up some grape tomatoes, kale, and left-over basil from the salmon dish we had earlier in the week. I threw all that in. Lastly, I put in some of the chicken pieces we had left over from the chicken we had on Sunday.

I don't know if this is normal or not, but I also used a tad bit of chicken broth in the skillet to help it stay moist.

I'm kind-of proud of this because it was homemade chicken broth from the chicken we had on Sunday and the first chicken broth I've ever made.

That really deserves it's own blog post, but there's not time for that now.

After the timer went off, I took the squash out, and with a forked, pulled all the "meat" out of it - it literally came out like strings of spaghetti.

SO. COOL.

LEFT: full.        RIGHT: empty.

I then put the veggie-chicken mix over top of the spaghetti squash, and added a little more salt and pepper.

And that was it!

And it was GOOD.

My first ever butternut squash! (Whole30 - Day 3)

I had eggs for breakfast.  Scrambled.  Easy.  Done.

Lunch was a spinach, kale, and romaine salad with hardboiled egg, red/yellow peppers, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and just a few strawberries for fun - dressing was strawberry vinaigrette.

Dinner was one of our favorites, that can be easily modified to comply with Whole30.

Tomato-basil-salmon and Garlic-Lemon-Apsaragus.

Jason's plate: he got parmesan cheese and brown rice too

Dinner - Day 3

Mmmm.

My first ever butternut squash!

Normally we make these dishes with parmesan cheese, but for Whole30 I omitted the cheese from mine.

To add even more Whole30-ness to our plate, I cooked up my first every butternut squash!

YUM.

I had no idea what the inside of one looked like.

In fact, I didn't even know what the outside of one looked like until last week.


It's hard to cut into, but kind-of reminds me of a cantaloupe inside, but far fewer seeds to dig out.


I cut it up, and tossed the pieces in olive oil, salt and pepper, and cooked it for about 30 minutes on 400.


Dare I call it healthy Boardwalk Fries?

Valentine's Day Plant (Whole30 - Day 2)

Our Valentine's Day Plant!

Breakfast started out with eggs and spinach.  Easy peasy AND delicious.

Lunch was a little bit of a cheat - we went to Panera with friends who were in town, so it was tricky.

In my defense, I did ask if they had the "Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Salad" - which I had read is on a secret menu and Whole30 approved minus the pepperoncini.

Alas, they either didn't have it or didn't want to make it for me.

So I got the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad - which is mixed greens, tossed with chicken, crispy apple slices, red onions, blue cheese and crunchy pecans.

I didn't realize until halfway through that the deliciousness I was tasting was the forbidden dairy product of blue cheese! Oops.

To my credit, however, I did NOT use a single drop of dressing.

Yup.  Ate it dry. Yay Whole30.
Still, that blue cheese though...was delicious.

So yeah, a little deviation from the hard core Whole30, but it was not as bad as it could have been.

We think in relative terms around here, or at least at lunch on Sunday.

Oh yeah, it was Valentine's day on Sunday!  While we've done traditional things in the past, neither of us got a card for each other this year and instead of flowers, we took a romantic drive to Home Depot and got a house plant :-)

It's a Snake Plant and the tag says, "easy to grow."

I love that Home Depot wants to make my life easier by giving me a plant that doesn't really need me too much :-)

Either way, I absolutely love the plant.

So now, on to dinner.  After Home Depot, we returned and I began prepping the whole chicken I had purchased a few days earlier.

I was in awe of the fact I could buy one with giblets removed.  Ahh!  Joy!

Those giblets are the reason I have only ever bought one other whole chicken in my life.

I figured if the giblets were removed already, I could give it another go.

It turned out alright, but it took a lot longer than I expected, so we were pretty hungry by the time we cut into it!

Whole30 - Day 1!

I didn't have a lot of fresh food in the house, so the past few days I did what I'm calling a "soft start" to my Whole30 journey.  I eliminated obvious things like coffee cream, and cookies :-)  I also took the time to plan my menu and grocery list.

I finally went to the grocery store yesterday and now feel like a woman ready for battle! Just look at this loot!

If you can identify these all of foods, primarily the yellow football and the tan gourd thing both at the top right of the photo, you are already way ahead of me.  I'm just thankful the label stickers were still on when I got home!

For the record:
I've never bought a spaghetti squash in my life (the yellow football shaped item)
I've never bought a butternut squash in my life (the tan gourd)
I've bought kale a few times, but still getting used to it (top middle)
I've also only bought a whole chicken once or twice in my whole life (top left)

But our fridge is full, I have a plan, and I'm energized to get this party started!

Here's what my Day 1 looked like:

Day 1: 
Breakfast: 3 eggs, scrambled with spinach.  And blueberries on the side.  I don't like blueberries, but I know they're amazingly good for me, and a couple weeks ago my mom told me that blueberries remind her of Grandfather, so now they remind me of Grandfather.  And somehow, that makes eating them more special.

Snack: 7 almonds.  Literally, no more, no less.

Lunch: Spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts - homemade dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, strawberries, salt/pepper).  Delicious!!

Dinner: Eggs again!  Truth be told, my Plan A was to cook the whole chicken for dinner tonight, but we had friends over in the late afternoon, and we were too hungry when they left to wait for the chicken to cook!  We had very few options as far as protein goes, so I cooked up eggs with yellow pepper, tomato, and spinach.  Jason's eggs had some pepper jack cheese and he also got two slices of toast- he's not doing Whole30.  In spite of having eggs for two meals today, I feel thankful and ready to take on Day 2 tomorrow.

Whole30 - Let's go!

I've decided to jump on the Whole30 bandwagon for the next 30ish days.

What is Whole 30?

This link explains it all, but in short, it is a getting back to the basics way of eating for 30 days at a minimum.  A few of my friends have done it, or are doing it.  Finally, my friend Samantha has said enough good things about it, I'm motivated to try it!

Here's a cheat sheet of what you are to eat and not eat.

Eat: meat, fish, eggs, veggies, fruit, healthy fats

Don't eat: processed foods, grains, sugar, legumes, alcohol, dairy

There's more to it than than that, and the book, "It Starts with Food" explains it well. (Thanks for loaning it to me Samantha!). There is a lot of science in the book, which is great if you're able to comprehend it.  But I very much appreciated the analogies that go with the science.  It made it more understandable.

Why am I doing the Whole30 eating plan? Well, I figure it can't hurt. And, there's a chance it could help with a variety of issues I deal with on a regular basis.  From acne to infertility, I can't say that what I eat isn't contributing to some of those issues and others.

At the very least, my hope for this is that I can give up my dependence on sugar and begin to enjoy more healthy foods.

Maybe I'll end up liking kale! Probably not, but maybe I can find some yummy recipes that incorporate avocado.  I know, I know, who doesn't like avocado?  Well, I don't.  At least not yet.

I'm blogging about it for two reasons.

1) It gives me something to blog about on a frequent basis.

2) It will help keep me accountable!

I'm looking forward to documenting this, posting a few pictures and trying some new recipes.  Thanks for joining with me!  Here's to the Whole30 journey!