Day 13 Whole30

Today is that female time of the month so I didn't feel great. It hasn't been long enough to notice if dropping dairy will affect it, hopefully next month i'll have a better idea. Suffice to say I had some pretty rampant sugar cravings, in particular...you guessed it CHOCOLATE!!! boy I really really wanted to cave today but I didn't.  Dallas and Melissa warn that this part of the program can get really intense, I'm looking forward to day 16 when hopefully the cravings will be gone.

On the bright side I am really loving trying lots of new things because I'm not having any dairy, I really do have to think outside the square! 

My new Well Fed cookbook is just awesome!!! I highly recommend this book, for anyone from beginners to those of us that have been at this a long time, like myself! Great ideas and lots of new flavours, herbs and spices that I wouldn't have thought of.  

The introduction is awesome, a very basic yet well thought out way of explaining Paleo and how to transition to a Paleo diet.  Plenty of advice for meal planning and preparation tips.

It would be a perfect gift for that person in your life that keeps questioning about your "crazy diet" but isn't ready to change their eating habits because they don't understand how to do it. I would say if you read this book and didn't like the recipes and suggestions then there is no saving you ;)

Hubby was blown away by tonights  meal and kept raving about the chicken and sunshine sauce.  You must try this!!!!(links below)

8 hours sleep

8am: 2 egg omelet filled with leftovers from yesterday's lunch (pizza inspired mince & veggies)

2pm: Almond and smoked lemon coated chicken fried in coconut oil, on top of asparagus "noodles", drizzled with lemon olive oil. Blueberries with cinnamon toasted almonds and coconut

8pm: The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat. Ever. with Sunshine Sauce and chopped up carrots, cucumber and yellow peppers with coriander and Buttercrunch lettuce (this meal was AMAZING!!!!!) 

Day 11 Whole30

I'm finding my grove with this Whole30, plenty of variety in my diet and a ton of veggies! Day 11 wasn't super smooth, I had a few cravings and found myself wishing I could just have a piece of 85% Lindt and Nespresso with cream, however I didn't as I don't want to short change myself, I need to remind myself why I'm doing this Whole30. 

I wouldn't say it's hard but it's not easy either, when hubby is sitting there eating chocolate and I'm not then yeah at that moment it feels hard but it's all relative, it really isn't that hard, it's just changing habits and not being so emotional with food. I feel like things are changing for the better, still can't believe I've gone 11 days without chocolate or dairy, I'm over a third of the way there :)

8 hours sleep

7am: 3 egg omelet filled with sautéed kale, red peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bacon and walnut pesto

12pm: Lamb and Pumpkin coconut curry with green beans & cashews

6pm: 1 tablespoon of Coconut Manna

8pm: Cajun steak with avocado/mayo onto of a large salad, mesclun, cucumber, yellow peppers, radishes, cherry tomatoes

Day 10 Whole30

Yep today proved to be the hardest! Not physically but emotionally, talk about cravings argghh! I didn't cave thankfully but I found myself hungry this afternoon so I ate a snack which I don't normally do.  It was super yummy, tasted like muesli but better.  I'm being careful with fruit because I don't want to lean on sweet fruits in place of the chocolate, blueberries don't really taste all that sweet to me.

I do feel like I'm breaking my chocolate addiction so that feels good, I do miss my morning coffee, I think mostly because of the ritual of hubby and I having our Nespressos and the cup warming my hands.  The short black or lungo just doesn't satisfy the same without cream :/  I tried with coconut cream and thought it was gonna be good until I drank it. Yuck!!! I hate it, not gonna happen!

I dreamt last night I ate a kinder surprise, so weird as they aren't something I eat, they are nice but it was strange.  I woke up remembering it really vividly and I felt guilty for a minute until I woke up properly and realised it was a dream!

I was on a bit of a go slow this morning, I think I overslept as I woke feeling quite groggy, I seem to feel best on 7-8 hours sleep.  Not much else to report, everything seems to be going fairly smoothly :)

9 hours sleep

7am: 2 organic free range eggs, pure lamb free range sausage, fried mushrooms in coconut oil, tomato and avocado

12pm: Tuna ceviche with mesclun, tomatoes and homemade mayo

2pm: Blueberries with toasted Cinnamon coconut & almonds

7pm: Chinese Five Spice Stirfry

Day 4 Whole 30

Today has been a bit tough,  I understand the "Kill All The Things!", see this timeline to understand what I'm talking about.

*It’s probably because your brain is never very happy when you tell it that it CAN’T have something, and take it out of it’s habitual and accustomed comfort zone. An unhappy brain is a stressed brain, an anxious brain, a fearful brain. No to mention your hormones are desperately trying to keep up with your new food choices, your gut is trying to heal, you’ve had a headache for the last three days, and you REALLY MISS YOUR DIET COKE. So yeah, maybe we do know why this is happening now…

In my case it's not diet coke it's dark chocolate and dairy!


Before I started this Whole30 I was very apprehensive, I didn't think I needed it but I'm realising very quickly why I really did need to do this.

So why go to the extreme and do a Whole30?
For me this is a reset, I needed to quit all the little primal/paleo treats I was having, I had lost my way.  I miss the me who could go out to a cafe and not even be tempted by cake, to see the hot chips being delivered to someones table and not even want them.  I used to be that girl and somehow along the way with all the little treats I started having it had turned into a common place in my eating template and it was leading me down a path of feeling unhealthy and all of my old health symptoms returning.

I eat Primal for my health, yes I have been extremely successful with weight loss.  Weight loss was initially my motivator.  What I've come to realise over these last 5 years is that essentially I want to be healthy.  I've been fat, I've been thin and I've been a normal size. I've been sick, miserable, unhealthy and I've been well, happy and healthy and I know I choose the latter.  Healthy to me means having healthy hormones and sleeping well, having consistent energy throughout the day, loving life, exercise that feels natural, eating the foods I love and stopping when I feel satiated.  Unhealthy to me means having whacked out hormones and not sleeping well, energy ups and downs, not enjoying life, exercising for the "calorie burn",  eating only to my "calorie count".  This is what I have discovered is healthy or unhealthy for ME!

8 hours sleep last night
6.45am: 3 hard boiled eggs mashed with ghee, bowl of blueberries with toasted coconut and almonds
1.15pm: 2 lamb chops marinated in tarragon, tomato paste, lemon juice and paprika, brussel sprouts and green beans, 1 tablespoon of Coconut Manna
3.30pm: A few macadamia nuts
7.30pm: Lamb Shepherds Pie with Mashed Kumara (sweet potato) on top, fresh green beans and peas, broccoli with ghee

Today was mentally quite draining and I definitely had a short fuse for parts of the day, there was a moment when I kinda yelled at my sewing machine but otherwise I was ok.  I had an hour thai massage tonight so that was helpful for easing any tension.  Hopefully tomorrow isn't as harsh and then it might just be two days of feeling like I wanna nap and then the detox part of this Whole30 will be dusted and I will be bouncing with Tiger Blood!

Chicken Satay Skewers

Ingredients:

Satay Sauce:

• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 2cm fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 tbsn soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1 red chilli de seeded
• Zest of 2 limes and juice of 1 lime
• Bunch of fresh coriander
• 3tbsn crunchy peanut butter or sunflower butter

Water to thin it out or coconut cream is good too.

Directions:

4 skinless, deboned chicken breasts (try to get nice fat and plump ones)

Combine the satay ingredients in a food processor and whizz until a thick paste is formed. Add a bit of water until the sauce is spooning consistency.

Pour half of the sauce into a bowl and set aside.

Pour the other half into a roasting tray.

Slice the chicken breasts into big chunks and skewer onto wooden skewers. (soak the wooden skewers for a few minutes before skewering the chicken). Place the chicken skewers into the roasting tray and coat in the satay sauce. Grill/roast the skewers until the chicken is cooked and they are golden.