HELLO June!

It's June!  WHAT????

May was a complete whirlwind.  May is my favorite month for many reasons.  First of all, it is the last month of school.  It is super crazy and busy at work, writing report cards, grading, and wrapping up the school year.  BUT once you get through it, you are FINISHED for 10 weeks!  May is also the month of Mother's Day, Ethan's Birthday, AND my birthday.  Finally, we ended the month with my little sister's wedding!

I blogged a couple of times about doing the Whole 30 during the month of May.  It was a tough month, because we had a lot of celebrations, but it was a perfect month because I LOST weight instead of gaining it.  I ended up losing 6.5 pounds during the month, and actually 5 of them were during the first week.  It was pretty amazing to meet my goal just in time for my sister's wedding.  Since then....welllllll....not so hot.  I feel like it's been a downward spiral for the past week (snacks, pizza, cookies, etc.) and I'm already starting to plan to start another clean eating challenge.  I just don't have will-power on my own, and for some reason, a clean challenge makes me do it.

We celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday in the middle of the month.  I can't believe my sweet boy is TWO!  We celebrated with a little Elmo party (although he really isn't as obsessed as he was when I chose the theme) of just our immediate family.  Since I went a little overboard with his first birthday party, we decided to keep it small this year. 

When I started the Whole 30, I had every intention of following it, EXCEPT for on my 30th birthday.  Yup, I turned 30 a week ago.  All I wanted for my birthday was a fiesta with my closest family and friends, a Qdoba bar, and margaritas.  And baby, I got it.  I had such a wonderful night, and feel so lucky to be healthy and have reached this milestone year.

After I came off of my birthday hangover, it was time to celebrate Ali's wedding weekend.  It was an INCREDIBLE weekend.  Tornado warnings during the rehearsal dinner and not a drop of rain on her wedding day.  Everything was perfect and I swear, she was the prettiest bride I have ever seen.  Ethan was a perfect angel (except for getting the tux on, which we knew would be a fight), and he walked down the aisle like such a big boy.  We are so happy to have Kyle in our family and our post-wedding lives to get back to normal :)

Now it is finally time to enjoy my summer vacation off with my little man.  We are booked with stroller-fit classes, swimming lessons, music classes, and mommy-and-me camp.  Excited to experience summertime with my family and friends!

Read more...

Whole 30 - Two weeks down

(forgot to hit publish on this yesterday)
Today is technically Day 15 in my Whole 30 experience.  I started on Wednesday the 1st and today is Wednesday the 15th.

So far, I've lost 6 pounds.  I should be THRILLED with that amount (and overall, I guess I am), but I lost 5 pounds the very first week.  I guess I just thought I would have lost more this past week.  One of the Whole 30 "rules" is that you don't weigh yourself.  Well, you can take away my dairy and carbs but you can't take away my scale.  I weigh myself every morning and have continued to do that on Whole 30.

My clothes are fitting much differently.  My size 8 pants are too big and some 6s are pretty roomy and starting to hang in the tush.  Annoying, but in a good way!

I have made some new recipes that I want to remember so I will link them here:
Steak with mashed cauliflower and brussel sprouts
Chicken drumsticks with veggies
Crockpot Chili (I am using turkey instead of beef because that is what's in the freezer)
Time for Dinner steaks with grilled veggies and side salad (I took a pictures of Mike's...mine was without cheese)

What I love (and hate because of the time it takes) most about Whole 30 is trying new recipes and foods.  Before this month, I had never made sweet potato chips, kale chips, chicken drummies, cauliflower mash pots, spaghetti squash, brussel sprouts, and my VERY FAVORITE, frozen banana "ice cream" (frozen bananas, almond butter, and water blended up).

I can't believe I am over halfway done with this thing.  It is much easier...although I have had many many temptations.  I find it easiest to say that I am lactose intolerant when ordering things are restaurants to make sure they don't use any creams or cheeses in sauce/on salads/etc. 

Anyone out there doing Paleo/Whole 30?  I'd love some more links to good recipes.  Can you eat the Aldi's fruit strips?  (I love those things.)  What do you drink other than water?  Those of you that finished Whole 30, how did you ease back into "normal" clean eating again?

Read more...

Whole30

On May 1st, I decided to start the Whole 30 challenge.  1 month without alcohol (see how I put that one first) dairy, grains, sugars, and legumes.  (Shopping List)

Why would I want to do this?  Honestly, with only 1 month until my sister's wedding with about 5 pounds to get to my goal, I felt like this program would help me out.  I've never had much of a sweet tooth and Mike and I generally eat pretty clean.  My problem is that I am Ethan's garbage disposal.  I finish his mac n' cheese, take a little handful of his goldfish, and "taste" a bit of everything I give him.  Extra calories that were just adding up. 

I am now 6 days into the program and it really hasn't been horrible.  I mean, yea, I miss the convenience of more processed food.  I have a comfortable set of recipes and this program has definitely forced me to try new things.  I've only done this since last Wednesday and I've made so many new things.

Pretty obsessed with spaghetti squash, kale chips, sweet potato chips, and banana "ice cream" (frozen bananas with almond butter).

From left to right:
Egg muffins with mushrooms, onions, and bacon
Mixed greens with steak strips, tomatoes, guac, and salsa
Scrambled eggs with peppers and salsa, turkey bacon, avocado
Chef salad with turkey, bacon, hard boiled egg, avocado, and salsa
Spaghetti Squash (with zucchini and chicken)
Rotisserie chicken, asparagus, and peppers with guac
Kale chips
Sweet potato chips
Banana "ice cream"

There is a cute little timeline out there that says how you should be feeling for each given day.  Right now, I should be in the "I just want a nap" phase (which yesterday was the "Kill all things" phase), but I don't feel that way at all.  I really have felt totally normal since starting this diet (other than hungry the first couple of days).  I mean, I could always take a nap, but nothing anything out of the ordinary.

People have asked me if this is SOOOO hard.  So far, it hasn't been.  The hardest part has been preparing.  The shopping, cooking, chopping.  That's been the hardest part.  But the actual act of not eating dairy and cheese hasn't been bad.  I'd like a glass of wine, but I will get to have one in a few weeks.  It is just a month.  I won't die. (I keep reminding myself of that over and over again).  I love this quote from the website...

"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime."

Read more...