Days 24-28

Day 28. I keep thinking about that chocolate I'm going to consume on Monday. This week was kind of torture because for my Habitat summer camp we had food donations all week, including three days of Chick-Fil-A. I couldn't eat any of it...and it was FREE.

I've been eating pretty much the same things lately but I did try baking some Paleo Pumpkin Almond Muffins. Instead of sugar I put a little bit more vanilla. They were so delicious but I was stupid and put them in tupperware before they were completely cooled and they got all moist and nasty and smelt disgusting so I had to throw half of them away :( Hard to believe they had NO sugar in them. 

Anyways not much to say today. I'm exhausted from my Habitat summer camp! Very proud of myself for resisting that chick fil a though ;)

Days 20-23

It's too far back to remember everything I ate the past few days but I want to tell you about some yummy new things I've tried.

I didn't have any spaghetti squash so I used some fresh zucchini, sauteed it in coconut oil and made meat sauce from the paleo spaghetti recipe. I enjoyed it with some flax seed/coconut bread. I have tons of leftover meat sauce so I've been putting that over some steamed broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. I buy this huge thing of frozen veggies mix from walmart (gasp!) and it lasts forever. I put a bowl full of veggies with some water and heat it in the microwave for almost 3 minutes, then drain it, and it's perfect. I usually have frozen veggies and fresh veggies on hand.

After my workout today (by the way it was an intense workout- 50 lengths in the pool, weights, abs, stretching. And I didn't plan on going to the gym today!) I went to Food Lion to get some supplies and decided to make this DELICIOUS omelet! 

Alsie's Sun Dried Tomato N' Spinach Omelet

Ingredients

-2 fresh eggs

-spinach (frozen or fresh)

-green or red bell pepper

-turkey sausage (cooked. I buy mine pre-cooked so I just had to microwave it)

-sun dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil drained and cut up

-coconut oil
*I usually eye my ingredients and don't measure them too much. Sometimes it's way more veggies than eggs or vis versa but always good! Just use what you like.

Instructions

-Saute the bell peppers in coconut oil in a frying pan over medium heat with coconut oil. If your spinach is frozen also saute that. If your spinach isn't frozen, wait until the bell peppers are done. If you like crispier bell peppers don't saute them for too long.

-Add the sun dried tomatoes and turkey sausage. 

-Turn your heat down to low-medium for the eggs.

-Make sure your veggies and sausage are even on the pan.

-In a separate bowl, whisk the 2 eggs. Pour the eggs over your veggie mixture in the frying pan. Try to get the eggs to cover all the veggies.

-Don't touch the omelet for a few minutes. Remember slow cooking eggs is the way to go unless you want hard, rubbery eggs! 

-If you can flip it, by all means do. I can never do that so I check to make sure it's cooked enough to fold in half then wait again for another couple minutes. 

I enjoyed mine with a strawberry, blueberry, almond butter smoothie. It was too good and very filling! 

I've been enjoying this diet and trying new things even though it's still a challenge. It's working and I feel really good. I don't feel bloated, I have more energy and I can see a difference. 

Day 19

More than halfway done with the 30 day challenge.

Today was quite delicious. This morning I had 2 paleo pancakes and iced coffee, which wasn't enough. I ate leftovers for lunch (roasted red peppers chicken bake and roasted carrots). I swear every time I make food and bring it to work people ask me what it is.

For a snack I ate some apple and raw almonds which got me through my evening workout. I might be starting to like Whole Foods but I wish it wasn't so expensive. I went there after my workout and was very out of it and wondering down the aisles but strategically avoided the chocolate bars. They have a ridiculous selection of wonderful chocolate. I was embarrassed because I asked this guy where something was, and then after I bought everything I realized I bought almond meal instead of flax seed meal...so I had to go return the almond meal and had to ask the same guy again where the flax seed meal was. Oh well, he was charming.

For dinner I made a salad inspired by my Subway lunch yesterday. It was DELICIOUS.

Spinach Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad  (too long of a name?) 

Ingredients: 
-fresh baby spinach
-2 slices of cooked bacon diced
-cucumber slices
-tomatoes
-1/2 an avocado
-1/2 green piper diced
-1/2 of a large chicken breast
-seasonings for the chicken (I used pepper, thyme, dill, basil...)
-oil & vinegar, or balsamic vinegar

Season and grill the chicken. I used a george foreman. I also used a whole chicken breast so that I would have leftovers for tomorrows lunch. Next place the spinach on a plate, add the veggies, avocado, bacon, etc. while the chicken is grilling. When the chicken is done cut it up and place it on top of the salad. I sprinkled it with some balsamic vinegar.

Then I decided to try out the flax seed bread again but after reading the comments I tried it with coconut flour. Here's the link to Original Flax Seed Bread Recipe. 

Here's the link to the ingredients I used this time:                                

-1 1/2 C flax seed meal                                                                          

-1/2 C coconut flour                                                                              

-1 tsp salt 

-1-2 TBSP sugar equivalent 

-7 beaten eggs 

-3/4 C water (check the consistency, you might need more. It should be quite thick but pourable)

-1/4 C oil (a little less oil than the original recipe)

                                                                        

 
Before and after baking the bread

 

 Delicious! I spread some almond butter and bananas on it for a lil dessert.

Day 17 & 18

I haven't really eaten anything out of the ordinary these days except for a new recipe I tried that turned out delicious.

Day 17:

-strawberry/banana smoothie

-paleo pancakes

-paleo BLAT

-small piece of flax seed bread and almond butter

-sausage and mustard (Although I'm not buying this kind of sausage again- it had too much sodium and I could tell even just by the way I felt afterwards)

-steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots

Day 18:

-strawberry/banana smoothie 

-paleo pancakes

-DELICIOUS salad from subway: spinach, grilled chicken, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, onions, pepper, oil & vinegar. 

-raw almonds

And for dinner I made a new chicken bake recipe that was pretty easy to make and absolutely delicious. I got it from everydaypaleo.com. http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/03/09/sun-dried-tomato-chicken-bake/

I didn't have sun dried tomatoes so instead I used some left overs roasted red bell peppers soaked in olive oil (found in a jar). It's going to be even better with a full jar. Extremely juicy and tasty. For a side I used all the carrots that were sitting our fridge for a while. I washed them, skinned them, cut them in half length ways then cut those in half. I put them in a baking dish, tossed with olive oil, and seasoned with pepper, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, oregano, garlic salt. Next time I'll probably leave out the garlic salt and oregano.

I feel like I barely have time to try out new recipes all the time and cook every day and then I look at blogs with "paleo mamas" etc. and wonder how the heck they find the time to cook paleo for their families all the time. I wonder if they pack their kids paleo lunches for school? Can you imagine as a kid coming to school with a salad or chicken breast instead of a pb & j, chips, and an apple?

Day 15 & 16

We are over the halfway point! I was thinking that I might die of happiness when on day 31 I eat a piece of glorious chocolate. This blog might be getting a little redundant but it's helpful to me to continue to keep track of what I'm eating. I think I need to calm down on the bacon and sausage and start heating more lean meats. I've been doing pretty good on fruits and veggies though.

Yesterday, day 15:
-paleo pancakes, bacon, earl grey tea
-tuna & avocado with some flax seed bread
-strawberry/banana almond butter smoothie
-salad, and some kind of fish I'm not sure about....Aindrea and I went to a Dash baseball game (Winston's minor league team) and we had Founder's Club tickets with free food and drinks. I thought I picked up chicken but it was fish, and delicious!

Today I had a delicious brunch with some friends of mine at a restaurant called Breakfast of Course where you can customize your own omelets. I got one with smoked sausage, bell peppers and spinach with a side of asparagus and gluten free bread. Although afterwards I was thinking I wasn't sure what else was in that gluten free bread and probably shouldn't risk it next time (it may have a ton of sugar? I'm not sure).

Here's what else I ate:
-paleo pancake with 1/2 a banana and unsweetened apple sauce
-chicken sandwich without the bread
-sunflower seeds
-sausage and yellow mustard
-steamed veggies

Definitely need to make some chicken tomorrow. Otherwise everything is still going great and I am seeing and feeling results. I've been lacking on the exercise but I guess I've just been going to too many free Dash games ;)

Day 13 & 14

I never thought I'd love flaxseed bread so much. The word flaxseed even sounds too grainy and dirty and hippy for me to like. Haha but I love this bread recipe and anyone who is on a low carb diet should try it because it's good and extremely easy to make. Of course I only say that after my 2nd try...but watch the video on this link and you're golden: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/flaxbasicfoc.htm

Yesterday, Day 13, I ate over easy eggs, bacon, paleo pancakes. Then I had an interesting 24 hour something or other so I ate paleo pancakes, bacon, unsweetened apple sauce, and herbal tea. In the evening I was starving so I tried out that flax seed bread and made up some tuna and made myself a delicious tuna sandwich! 

Today, Day 14, I made an egg scramble with peppers, green onion and spinach. I ate some paleo pancakes with it and instead of coffee I had Earl Grey Lavender tea (delicious!). 

My mind is moving towards all the possibilities of what I'm going to do with this flax seed bread and on the way home I thought of a BLT and got way too excited. I mean it's just food, right?! 

So here's what I did (I was so excited I took pictures of my beautiful sandwich):

Alsie's Paleo BLAT 

Ingredients: 

-1 small tomato, or 1/2 of a large one

-2 pieces of flax seed bread (recipe above)

-4-6 pieces of bacon, depending on how large your sandwich is

-yellow mustard

-lettuce

-about half an avocado 

First cook the bacon. Let it cool off on a paper towel. While the bacon is cooking, prepare the rest of the sandwich. I like to put the yellow mustard on both sides of the bread. On one side I placed the lettuce and tomato slices.  Next, cut the avocado in half. Cut the half into slices, scoop desired amount and spread it directly onto the bread. Place the nice crispy bacon on top of that and you've got your delicious flax seed BLAT! 

MMMMM! 

I enjoyed mine with a glass of iced tea. I had 2 of these they were so good. 

I'm thinking of adding sprouts next time to make it a "BLAST." haha.

Then for dinner I heated up some sausage, dipped that in mustard, and had some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Tomorrow is the half way point!

Day 11 & 12

Being on this paleo thing reminds me of trying to be more disciplined in other areas of my life as well. Trying to exercise on a regular basis, working on my relationship with God daily, being more consistent about searching for what my dream job is, being a better friend, sister, and daughter... I don't know what it is about me; if I'm trying to improve something in my life like health that apparently inspires me to work on myself in other aspects of my life. Perhaps because if I know I can be successful in this, I can be successful in other things. It's funny thinking about times when I didn't watch what I ate, because ironically I wasn't really watching or caring intentionally about other areas either. My personal life wasn't the healthiest and I rarely exercised. Not that my life was in shambles obviously but I find myself living more intentionally lately. 

This reminds me of a quote :)
‎"The unexamined life is not worth living" -Socrates


It's important to me to continually examine myself and my life. If i'm not living intentionally, life will literally pass me by and one day I'll look back and wonder what I did with it. 


So this is my paleo blog so here is what I ate Day 11:
-2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 paleo pancakes (so full afterwards)
-salad with apple, pecans, balsamic vinegar
-tuna and avocado 
-some paleo spaghetti


This is what I ate/am going to eat for today, Day 12:
-2 eggs and 2 sausages
-berry and banana smoothie
-chicken salad from panera (YUM!)
-pulled bbq pork (the bbq sauce had tomatoes, vinegar, oil, and a tiny bit of salt..soo good) and a side salad 


Almost halfway done! 

Day 10

Why is breakfast so good? Today I think it's safe to say I made my best over easy eggs yet. Does it make me a nerd that I was excited about this and ate with glee? I also had sausages and mini paleo pancakes. Totally worth getting up early in the morning.

At lunch some co-workers asked me what I was eating (tuna with avocado and a salad). They said it looked good and asked if I made it. Of course! Does anyone ever buy pre-made tuna mix?

It can be an awkward dynamic- being on a diet- because I'm always contemplating, should I tell people? Will they ask me about it everyday? Feel obligated they have to choose restaurants with things I can eat? Feel bad that they're eating foods I'm choosing not to? Tell me things like "ohh you don't need to lose weight!" or "you gotta live a little." Obviously I've thought through giving up bread, cheese, chocolate, and beer people. That's why I haven't really told a bunch of people unless I know they'd be encouraging or if I have to (roommates and close friends). It is hard resisting food though when it's offered to me from those who don't know I'm trying to cut things out.

I tried making a berry, banana, almond butter smoothie and it turned out really weird. Probably not doing that mix again. For dinner I had leftover paleo spaghetti mixed with some yellow squash. And a side salad. As well as homemade iced tea. Everyone else was eating peach cobbler with ice cream at the time but y'know it wasn't too bad! I still crave sweets and chocolate but for now I have unsweetened apple sauce and coconut macaroons to help. When those macaroons finish I'm diving into some crazy paleo cookie recipes. Let's hope they don't turn out like my flaxseed bread.

I almost didn't go to the gym today but am glad I did. I've been swimming mostly but today I knew I needed to get some weights in, so I did 45 min on the elliptical (it was rough), some weights, abs, stretching. Why is it so rough motivating myself to go to the gym? I think about whether or not I'm going to go more than actually going. It's a habit I think you need to force yourself into. I also need to find a workout buddy.

20 more daysssss!

Day 9

Brunch on the weekends just might be one of my favorite parts of the week. I get to make everything from scratch and take my time. I enjoy my food sitting down either with my roommates or watching an episode of Dead Like Me. I eat with a nice cup of hot coffee. No need to rush to work and no need to eat in the car. Then I get to lay on my couch, be lazy, and let my food digest. Does this paragraph make me weird?

There is the most delicious breakfast place in Asheville, NC called Sunny Point Cafe. Veronica, my mom's best friend, bought their cookbook for me and Anna when her and my mom were visiting us. It's awesome because it has all these yummy recipes (I skimmed through it and found some paleo friendly ones I'll have to try) but also describes how you should cook certain things, what equipment to use, and general information about food. I am still working on the perfect over-easy egg but the book gave great advice:

-Use the freshest eggs you can find. Fresh eggs don't break as easily.

-Don't salt the eggs before cooking them...makes them tough...Leave the salt on the table.

-Cook over low heat. Patience makes delicious eggs. High heat makes them rubbery and burnt. 

-Cold eggs are the worst- make the coffee first and serve your nice hot eggs with a hot cup of joe! 

I still need to figure out the timing. I crack the eggs and let them sit for a couple minutes (over low heat now) until they're hard enough to flip. I flipped the eggs and they sat there for about a minute. They didn't turn out exactly runny but not exactly hard yellowy either (great word choices, right?). Next time when I flip I'll keep them on for about 30 seconds only. 

With brunch I also ate 2 sausage links (I found sausage that is microwaveable and soo good) and 2 mini paleo pancakes. As always I enjoyed it with coffee and coconut milk! 

Tonight I'll be enjoying leftovers- either tuna and avocado or paleo spaghetti. 

Rest of Day 8

I tried out a couple new things, one which turned out pretty good and the other not so much!

______________
PALEO SPAGHETTI

Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. ground beef
1 brown onion
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
garlic powder
onion powder
thyme
basil
oregano
coconut oil

Instructions
-Bake the squash: Cut the squash in half and de-seed it. Place it cut-sides down in a baking dish for 40 minutes at 375
-While the squash is cooking, make the sauce. Brown the onion and garlic in coconut oil. Add the ground beef and spices. Brown the ground beef. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the squash is done.
-Take the squash out of the over and scrape the "noodles" from the skin
-Serve sauce over squash

*I thought there was way more sauce than noodles so either cut the sauce ingredients in half or bake 2 spaghetti squashes! Also the spaghetti squash was like using really thing angel hair pasta but I still thought it was yummy.

All in all it turned out delicious and I was surprised about how yummy the homemade sauce was. I also made a salad with mixed greens, apples, pecans topped with oil & balsamic vinegar (delicious!).  I'll have leftovers for a while.

I also tried making flaxseed bread from this recipe: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/flaxbasicfoc.htm 

But it was not nearly finished in the oven in 20 minutes so I tried baking it for longer and it is still soggy. Maybe it was the baking dish I used? I also didn't have parchment paper so I used aluminum foil so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it. I'll definitely try again though.

I also took a trip to Whole Foods. I have a love/hate relationship with that store. I think it's overpriced, a bit pretentious, and some of the people who shop there are just too cool for school. But I have to admit, it has the BEST stuff and when you can't find it elsewhere, you'll find it at Whole Foods. I bought a few things there among some almond flavored macaroons to cure my sweet tooth disease. 

They aren't bad but man I gotta get used to that coconut texture. 

1st part of Day 8

I lost 2 pounds. To be honest I wished it was more but this way is a lot healthier. They say you should only lose about 2 pounds a week or 10% of your body weight...so as long as I keep eating Paleo for the next 3 weeks I'll lose 6 more pounds. I have to figure out how I want my diet to look afterwards. I definitely am going to cook way more, not have Chick-Fil-A or Cookout once a week, etc... but I do miss chocolate and was thinking I could have bread and cheese maybe like once a week? I could do a similar thing I was doing with my last diet with a "cheat" meal once a week and do this until I get to my desired health goals. I was talking with my friend who is a personal trainer and he said you don't always need to be on a strict diet to maintain a healthy weight but then again he's a boy and works out like crazy.

What are my desired health goals? I think to have a good healthy body fat percentage and be comfortable in a bathing suit! At first I almost wrote I want to lose 20 pounds, but it's not always about the pounds but much more about body fat percentage and what's right for me. After these 30 days I'll take the test at the YMCA to measure my body fat to see how my progress is going.

Breakfast is by far the best/easiest time of day on paleo because I eat the same things I love. Although before this I was eating bagels all the time. This morning I made 2 over easy eggs (the best ones I've ever made actually), 2 sausages and 2 mini paleo pancakes. Right now I'm enjoying coffee with coconut milk.

After lunch and during dinner is when it gets tough because I always want something sweet or some bread. I actually haven't had too much trouble cutting cheese out. Tonight I'm going to try paleo spaghetti...yum!

Day 7

Done with week 1!

Today...
-1 egg muffin
-2 paleo pancakes
-chipotle salad with grilled chicken, guacamole, peppers, onions, salsa
-berry smoothie
-grilled chicken salad with green peppers, bacon bits, cucumber, oil & vinegar at East Coast Wings

Today I also played tennis with my friends Ryan, Kathy, and Walker. It was a ton of fun and it needs to be a weekly thing. I enjoy tennis, it is somewhat of a good workout, and you're with fun people.

Day 6

I do feel better and maybe it's a placebo effect but I look a little better too! It's almost a week and I'm trying to decide if I should weigh myself once a week or wait until the end of the 30 days. It may be motivation to see if I'm losing weight. I guess it could be motivation if I'm not losing weight either.

This is what I ate today:
-2 egg muffins
-2 mini paleo pancakes
-paleo tuna and avocado (SO good, recipe is below!)
-guacamole (avocado with salsa mixed together) and carrots
-sausage and yellow mustard
-smoothie with frozen berries, coconut milk, ice, and almond butter
-some free white wine at a baseball game :)

---------------------
STUFFED AVOCADOS 


Ingredients: 

3-4 avocados

4 cans of tuna

3 green onions, diced

3 celery stalks, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced (optional but yummy)

3 tbsp dried dill

1 tbsp garlic powder

black pepper to taste

About 1 cup Olive Oil Mayo

Instructions: 

-Mix the tuna, onions, celery, dill, garlic powder, peppers, black pepper, and olive oil mayo 

-Cut avocados in half and take out the seeds. Scoop the avocados out of the skin.

-Scoop tuna mix into avocados.

*I ate 1 avocado so I have lots of leftover tuna for later in the week!  

____________

OLIVE OIL MAYO

Ingredients:

1 cup of olive oil

1 egg

1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp yellow mustard 

salt and cayenne to taste

Instructions: 

-Mix all ingredients with a blender or by hand for a few minutes

-It will harden more in the fridge

-Use within 10 days 

________________

These were DELICIOUS! 

Day 5

Today was all about leftovers. This is what I ate:
-1 egg muffin
-2 paleo pancakes (I still can't get over how yum they are!)
-steak siroloin salad with onions, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, onions, oil & vinegar
-Smoothie with 3/4 cup assorted frozen berries, 1/2 banana, about a cup of coconut milk, a few pieces of ice
-leftover pulled pork, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash (sauteed in coconut oil and seasoned with basil leaves, pepper and oregano)
-salad with apples, pecans
-for dessert I made something new inspired by this recipe: http://www.tricitiescrossfit.com/2010/05/09/banana-dessert-recipe/

___________

PALEO BANANA DESSERT: 


Ingredients: 
2-3 bananas cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon (which I didn't have this time)
juice of 1 lemon (I used lemon juice)

Instructions: 
-Preheat oven to 350
-Put the banana slices on a baking dishes
-Combine olive or coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon zest & juice together
-Drizzle over bananas
-Bake for 12-15 minutes
*If you like them a bit crispier like I do, saute them over medium to high heat for a few minutes until it's browned on both sides!

It's delicious! Definitely has cured my sweet tooth cravings for the day.
__________

Aindrea and I swam 50 lengths today at the Y. Felt great! Something that motivates me is something I heard once...I never regret going to the gym, but I do regret not going. Or something like that :)

Random thought of the day!

I don't think America...or maybe it's just the south...knows how to make food without cheese or bread products! Although I can't blame them...