Whole30 Day 2 recap and on with Day 3!

Okay...before I get in to how I feel today, let me recap my Whole30 day 2:

Breakfast:
Sweet potato hash
2 Eggs scrambled
fresh blueberries

Lunch:
Meatloaf (left over from dinner Sunday night)
Roasted Cauliflower (also a leftover)
1/2 of a Baked Sweet potato (sprinkled with cinnamon)

Snack: roasted cashews

Dinner:
Taco Salad (lettuce, roasted corn, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado (coated in lime juice), salsa, ground
turkey seasoned with chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion, garlic powder)

I normally walk about 5 miles a day but I started feeling really tired yesterday afternoon so I only got in 3 miles yesterday. That tired feeling carried over until this morning. I feel really sluggish and I know it is because my body is detoxing. I am finding strength this week by reading posts on the forum for Whole30. A couple things that I am struggling with are not counting calories and not stepping on the scale. I have been doing both daily for the last two years, but I know it is time to break the habit.

That is all for now.
Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah

Whole30 Day 1 recap

So here is a recap of my first day on Whole30 (5/4).

Breakfast:
Sweet potato hash (shredded sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, whole30 approved bacon all cooked in EVO)
2 whole scrambled eggs (cooked in bacon grease)
1/2 cup blueberries

Lunch:
Tuna salad on a bed of fresh spinach (tuna, home made olive oil mayo, pickle relish, and hard boiled eggs) ***my 12 year old son asked for seconds he enjoyed it so much!!!

Snack while kayaking:
a handful of roasted almonds
small apple

Dinner:
Meatloaf (ground beef, almond flower, egg, grated zucchini and carrots, garlic and Italian seasoning)
Roasted cauliflower (cauliflower, garlic, olive oil)

All of the recipes are posted on my pinterest board!!!

The start of the first 30 days to the rest of my life

As promised, I officially my first bout with the Whole30 program on Sunday. Saturday involved grocery shopping with a lot of label reading and an hour of prep work. I am a busy single mom so I knew the best way for me to start the program and stick with it is to prep as much as I could in advance so I would have already cooked ingredients in the fridge ready to be turned in to a meal at a moments notice. I got the idea from The Clothes Make The Girl blog and while I didn't do exactly what they did, it gave me some great ideas on how to prep. There are a wealth of other blogs that provide yummy Whole30 approved and Paleo recipes.

Sweet potato hash, two whole scrambled eggs and blueberries.

Home made olive oil mayo

I will admit I did go on a small binge of bad stuff prior to starting....a few glasses of wine and a brownie on Friday night, a bagel and Starbucks on Saturday morning. It was funny though, after eating the bagel on Saturday, I realized I haven't missed eating bagels...must have been almost 2 years since I last had a bagel. I have a feeling when I am done with this 30 day program, there are going to be a lot of foods that fall under that "I really don't miss it" category.

Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah

Gulp...here are my pre-Whole30 measurements:
Start weight: 270
Waist: 46 inches
Hips: 51 inches
Thighs: 29 inches
Bicep: 17 inches
Chest: 45 inches

Why I am doing the Whole30

Yesterday I posted that I will be starting the Whole30 program for the first time. As I finished reading the book, It Starts With Food, I began to think about the possibilities presented by the program and why I am ready to embark on what others may view as a radical lifestyle change. About 9 years ago I wasn't feeling right and I didn't know why. I searched to find the reason for my depression, exhaustion, moodiness, and sometimes off the wall behavior. I just didn't feel like myself. I ended up being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and all the diagnosis didn't quite fit I allowed the doctors to put me on all kinds of medications. Finally two years ago, I got a dog who I credit with saving my life. I was allergic to my fantastic puppy and went to a specialist for allergy testing. Along with the dog allergy and several other environmental allergies, we discovered I had a severe allergy to yeast. My allergist suggested cutting it out of my diet. I immediately went home and googled yeast allergy and candida free diets and in my reading I noticed a list of physical and psychological effects of anaphylaxis. I started to wonder if maybe the reason all of those psych drugs weren't working was really because I wasn't crazy, but was eating the wrong things. I cleaned up my diet and started talking to my psychiatrist. He slowly started reducing the levels of the medication I was taking and I strived to eliminate as much yeast, which also means processed foods and sugars, from my diet as possible. In March of this year I was officially released as a patient from the psychiatric clinic after being medication free for 18 months.

My eating habits are far from perfect though and I am still struggling to lost the 70lbs that I gained from the psychiatric medications they tried. I exercise daily but struggle with aches and pains of arthritis in my joints from my younger athletic days that resulted in 9 knee surgeries and two shoulder surgeries.

So why the Whole30?

It may not help me lose weight, but it is possible it will.

It may not help my inflamed joints, but it is possible it will.
It may not help me sleep better, but it is possible it will.
It may not help me make better choices and eliminate what I'm allergic too, but it is possible it will.
It may not help my body fight my environmental allergies, but it is possible it will.

There are too many possibilities that it may help, for me to ignore!!

Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah

Blogging with purpose

I am back to blogging again but this time with purpose. Sunday I will embark on my first adventure with the Whole30 program. As of right now, I am so psyched! For the last week I have been reading (and re-reading) the program on the website, reading the book, researching recipes and making up my shopping list.

I couldn't be starting the program at a better time. Being a single mom I often rely on my parents for help. My dad picks up my son after school most days and assists with homework. I go to their house after work to pick him up where we often have dinner with them. I treasure this for many reasons. My parents are wonderful people and my dad is such a positive male role model for my son. Also, eating with them saves me time and money. Alas, all good things must come to an end. My mom is retiring and my parents will be making a much deserved move to a farm our family owns in Illinois. My dad will be gone for a few weeks as they are making preparations at the farm for the move. Are you starting to see why this is the perfect time to do the program? I will be shopping and cooking for my son and myself. This will be the perfect time to try new recipes and start the process of changing our meal time habits.

I am ready to start this new journey and will be blogging about it every step of the way. Since as part of the program I cannot step on the scale for 30 days, I will share my start weight and measurements and will be taking pictures along the way as evidence of my progress. I will also be sharing recipes I love and how I feel throughout the journey. Stay tuned, Sunday will be day 1 and the start of something wonderful!!

Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah

Overcoming trials

The 5k I was training for was this past Saturday and as of race time I was sitting at home on my couch watching something on Netflix. I had surgery on my "good" knee four weeks ago, but my doctor, who knows how I tend to push myself, said I was forbidden to even walk in the 5k. I know that my doctor knows best, but it was hard to not go. I am finding myself increasingly discouraged by my body which seems to be increasingly rebellious against me. Rehab for my knee started off really well and I was weeks ahead of the protocol and then I hit the wall. A wall not caused by my recently operated on "good" knee, but rather a wall of limitations that are the result of my "bad" knee. My right knee which has been operated on 8 times is still so bad that the pain and grinding of that knee is negatively impacting the rehab of my left knee which has the "potential to be a perfect knee" to quote my doctor. My physical therapists are trying to get creative with my rehab and are going to talk to my doctor about my setback. I'll speak with my doctor tomorrow and I admit that I am nervous about my prospects.

In the mean time, I am still focusing on my eating. I have discovered the amazing world of freezer meals! I have tried out many new recipes that can be made ahead and then frozen and also several crock pot recipes. I have a severe yeast allergy which means that I shouldn't have preservatives and processed foods and for that reason I have to do a lot of cooking. Learning about freezing meals has greatly helped. Sometimes I choose one day of the weekend and cook a lot of meals to freeze. Other times I double a recipe that I am making for dinner so that I can freeze a portion for another. Look for me on Pintrest!

Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah

Sidelined for injury but not out of the game

So I definitely have something wrong with the cartilage in my left knee and had an MRI last Friday. I see my doctor again on Sept. 11, so to prevent from making the injury worse before I know what I am dealing with I remain taking it easy with my workouts. I may be sidelined for the injury, but I refuse to let it pull me from the game. I remain committed to the promise I made myself to live a healthy lifestyle. So here is what I have been doing for the last two weeks... I have been walking when I am able to do so with out much pain. I have been doing more yoga concentrating on stretching and working on strengthening my core muscles.

The big thing that I have been doing though is focusing on what I am putting in to my body. When sidelined by an injury it is easy to get depressed and reach for the comfort foods that I have found really fuel my yeast allergy and in turn causes instant weight gain and more depression. I have really focused on clean eating. I've spent the past few days researching freezer meals and am looking forward to cooking on Saturday to stock my freezer with a month's worth of healthy meals. My decision to try this came from Monday night. We went to the zoo on Monday and after 5 hours of walking and an hour drive home, I was tired and not looking forward to cooking. I did cook however and realized that I need to come up with a plan for meals on nights like that so I am not tempted to eat out. So, I have my shopping list ready and my recipes printed out and Saturday will be my cooking day and if everything goes as planned, I should have 6 dishes that will make 12 meals ready to go in less than two hours.

Wishing you love and sunshine,
Sarah