Thursday, September 26, 2013

Grain free day 23 - new addictions

I have almost always had a love affair with Chipotle Mexican Grill...and my favorite thing was getting the salad (once they introduced it). A barbacoa salad with both beans, mild salsa, 2 scoops of hot salsa cheese and no dressing...that was my salad. Last week I ended up going to get a salad from Chipotle because there really wasn't anything for lunch at the house that I wanted. I ordered my salad with no beans...still delicious but something was missing.

Today I have found my new addiction. A chicken salad with the fajita veggies, mild salsa, hot salsa and cheese :) If it wasn't $1.80 for guacamole I would add that too but $1.80 is just a bit much in my mind. I am in lunch heaven right now!

Some of the blogs and websites say "just saw no to fastfood" but I don't view Chipotle as fastfood...but even if it is, I'm getting as close to non-contaminated food as possible and so I say :P

I'm also addicted to finding new recipes and drooling over them on the internet and then trying to figure out how many of those ingredients I currently have at home so I can make it. This evening I am going to attempt to make the cauliflower cheesy breadsticks and then some chicken and broccoli. I don't know how I'm going to cook said chicken and broccoli but I will cook them.

Last night my husband made dinner. Red potatoes, green beans and bacon. It was delicious but really too starchy for me (I hate a lot of potato) and I haven't had that many carbs in one sitting in a while. It's funny, I used to think that I was a carb addict, but being away from them, I don't really want them that much. So it's true...once you cut them out you don't crave them nor do you really eat as much food in general.

I have my own little weigh in tonight so we'll see where I am at. I'm actually thinking I gained weight this week which is ugh but oh well...I still feel great (just a little tired)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Day 20 of living grain free

I can't believe I'm pretty much at the 3 week mark already. This is incredible!

For 10 years I have been scared of going grain free.
For 10 years I would try a day or two and claim that I had no energy...
I couldn't run...
I had headaches...
and would just start eating grain again.

For 10 years (well most of my life) I have yo-yo'd with my weight and what to do about it.
For 10 years I told myself I can't

But now I see that I can and I do!

There is so much delicious food out there to eat...but there is so much more to life than food!

Yes, in order to do this right you need to compensate for lost calories from grains...and fat is an easy way to do that. You can also eat tons of vegetables whenever you want. Mix things up.

Today for lunch I took a snack idea I had yesterday (pear with cheese wrapped in prosciutto) and turned it into an arugula and butter lettuce salad with pear, walnuts, feta, roasted beets and prosciutto with grapeseed oil and apple cider vinegar. I'm enjoying it now at 3pm as I type this...yup 3pm because that's when I got hungry after my 8am breakfast of steak, mushroom, eggs and cheese. I'll have a cup of soup tonight around 8...now to be fair on Monday's I usually eat everything later because I work late on Monday but still...I listen to my body now.

I also look forward to working out again...that has been missing for a while but it's back. I did take today off because of all of the happenings with the new pup...but tomorrow will be the gym and Wednesday a run and Thursday gym and Friday a run and so on and so on.

I also realized I could show you pictures of some of the delicious dinners I've been making, so sit back and enjoy!

Steak Fajita Salad


Slow cooked venison & carrots with steamed broccoli & cauliflower & parsnip puree


Grain free pizza!


Sausage, kale and potato soup


"Chipotle" chicken salad with homemade guacamole


Sunday, September 22, 2013

Day 19 of being grainfree and our new dog!

Good Sunday evening!

I have so many food stories to write about but I want to start with running stories. On Thursday evening we started fostering-to-adopt a new dog..his name is Hank and is is adorable!


See, adorable. He is approximately 2 years old and is a pit mix. We are fostering-to-adopt through a wonderful group called Peace for Pits. If you live in the Chicagoland area and are looking to adopt a dog, you will want to adopt through them. They rescue pit bulls and pit mixes from Chicago Animal Care & Control and foster them until they can find the right home. They are great!

Anyway, with this lil one transitioning into our home, dinner the first night was a bit difficult to make. I had made salsa earlier in the week so I just threw that on some chicken breasts and cooked it...on Friday night we had a dog trainer come over so I got grain free pizza crust ready and setting before she came and after she left cooked up some pizza. I used chick pea/garbanzo bean flour, ground flax seed, yeast and stuff....it turned out amazing!

With this new lil man I'm going to be running lots more. I was always nervous about going wheat free because of how much I used to run. I haven't been running as much as I used to (tons of excuses as to why) but I've been trying to run more recently. I found out yesterday the lil one is a great runner. We only went 1.75 miles yesterday but then went 2.7 miles today. He will push me to go further and faster for sure. I don't remember the last time that I ran 2 days in a row so yay on that...even if it wasn't far on either day, I did it. I felt great and I plan on running tomorrow morning too. I'm a little worried about his front paw though, it looks a little bit red, but I didn't look at before we started running together.

It could also be because he and our other dog keep playing like this:

They have so much fun together I can't stand it!

More about food though...post run snack today was pears and cheese wrapped in prosciutto...um yes that needs to happen more.

Other delicious items made this weekend. Pumpkin spice muffins made with ground almonds, ground flax seed, chopped walnuts, pumpkin, and egg, some stevia, baking powder and spices. Reheated with some butter and a little honey on it = happy lady! Another item...sausage, kale & potato soup. I went to the Farmers Market and got fresh sausage and kale and potatoes and onion and carrot...so it was deliciously fresh. Yes it had potatoes in it, but 4 small red ones and the soup makes 10 cups so not many at all. Super yummy.

Oh I also had my first glass of wine last night in 3 weeks...I woke up with a headache. I did have 2 glasses last night but was not expecting the headache. I'm guessing it was because I haven't had that much sugar in one sitting in 3 weeks. Lesson learned! More water needed and maybe limit it to one glass. I do have one bottle of hard cider that I've been saving...soon...soon.

Speaking of cider, I did splurge and have a mug warmed with cinnamon today...it's the first day of fall, I'm allowed :)

I really feel amazing. I do get tested in another week...we'll see if I have an allergy or not...even if I don't I'm thinking I will stay eating this way.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Day 17 of no grains

Well this past week didn't equal as big of a weight loss in terms of the scale (down another 1.5 pounds) but that does make 5.5 pounds in 2 weeks which is a good thing. My pants are fitting much better which is a good thing but most importantly I feel better.

Last night I was super lazy on the dinner front though. We are fostering-to-adopt a second dog and he moved in last night. We already have one dog and one cat so now we're up to two dogs...that introduction took a bunch of energy, especially since dog #2 is very high energy...so dinner last night was throwing 2 chicken breasts in the oven, covering with homemade salsa, adding some cheese at the end and just eating that. Tonight I will attempt to make pizza using chickpea/garbanzo bean flour. I'm very excited about this for many reasons, but I think if this is successful my husband will be even more on board. I think he's starting to waiver and really wants to have some corn chips. As long as he doesn't start eating bread in front of me we'll be good.

I really don't miss bread though. I may make him some flaxseed wraps if he really starts missing bread...but right now I'm in a happy place with no grains.

My sister-in-law asked me last night if we can have polenta, I told her that corn isn't on the list of what we're eating right now since it's just too modified...she then asked about oats which I said were iffy. She wants to make us something yummy I know, and treats but it's just hard right now as we figure out what works for us. I do appreciate it though, she's super sweet!

This weekend I also plan to attempt to make grain free pumpkin spice muffins made by grounding up almonds. What was funny was when I picked up the chickpea flour yesterday I picked up the almond flour, saw it was $12 for the bag, looked at the ingredients, laughed and put it back down. All almond flour is is ground up (blanched) almonds...well I have tons of raw almonds at home and a food processor so...lots of adventures this weekend on the food front (and the transitioning the new pup).

I am starting to get a little bored with the meals I've been making though so I know it's time to open up the cookbook I bought...hoping that helps out. This morning I finished up the leftover apples & walnuts that I had made on Monday with some cheese but also fried up an egg...I don't think I would do an egg again with that mixture, but I wanted both so I ate both :)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Day 16 of grainfree living

I am so bad to keeping up with this on a daily basis, but at least I'm able to write about it every few days.

I am no longer referring to this as a 30 day challenge, I feel as though this is going to be a lifestyle that I choose to stay with (unlike veganism which was a 30 day challenge). 

Why? Because I feel amazing, I look pretty amazing for being on this just 2 weeks, and I have a new appreciation for food.

I had to travel for work the past couple of days and that was eye opening. My sister-in-law (who is allergic to dairy) and I discussed creating a chain restaurant that specializes in foods for people with allergies. It's ridiculous how difficult it can be. Tuesday I was at an event that included lunch...which was a pasta lunch. Luckily there was a salad...oh but it was just romaine lettuce with croutons on it...ok avoid those...dressing was not going to work for me either. Luckily I found a piece of chicken to have on my sad plate of lettuce...oh and the tiramisu that they had out on the table for dessert...please don't have that out there just sitting there. The table I was with looked at me like I was crazy.

Lets move on to dinner while traveling. I went to another event that included dinner...pulled pork sandwiches. And I had no way of knowing what ingredients were in the bbq sauce so I opted out of free dinner and went to buy some dinner. I got really excited for some blackened mahi mahi with broccoli and potato...I asked the waitress, "is there any wheat in the seasoning" she answered she didn't think so but would check...along comes another waitress, "um we have flour in the seasoning"...great...what about the salmon? Floured...ok so burger with no bun it was. My initial waitress was so afraid of me (I was being super nice) she had just never met someone with a wheat allergy (and yes that is not diagnosed but I find it easier to say I'm allergic rather than I don't eat it...especially in this little town). When she brought me my burger (which was delicious) it looked so sad. They gave me the one pickle and one slice of lettuce and one slice of tomato (really?) and no side. She asked me if I could eat the homemade chips that they make and I looked at her to be like, "you would need to tell me that" I told her I probably could but not to worry about it.

Moving onto breakfast the next morning...luckily I was able to grab some strawberries from the fruit plate...and ate the nuts that I brought along. Lunch? More pasta so I left and ate my cheese curds and jerky (no corn syrup or wheat added) and nuts.

When I got home I made myself a nice dinner to celebrate that I stuck with this! 

My skin looks really good. I'm still having some weird itchy spots but that could be so many different things. I'm looking forward to seeing the allergist to get her opinion and some testing done.

I do have more energy overall and I know when I'm hungry and when I'm not. 

Oh and I had my bloodwork tested...everything looks great...so don't believe it when they say you can't eat eggs it makes your cholesterol too high...just balance it with veggies!

I am excited to try a few recipes this weekend that use different types of flour (garbanzo bean and almond for example). I'm making us some pizza and some pumpkin spice muffins. Both of which I hope are delicious and I'm able to eat more of in the future.

I also purchased some brown rice pasta which I told the husband will be a side dish not a main dish.

He is loving the changes he is having with his body. He's not going 100% grain free but he is going to keep wheat away as best as he can. He loves tortilla chips too much to be 100% grain free...but he's been doing really good most of the time with me. I will have weight numbers tomorrow but I'm not thinking it's a big number since I didn't do a normal workout since Saturday...but I did do lots of walking and yard work in between Saturday and now...but today I'm looking forward to my workout.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Day 8...entering week 2 of no grains!

Whoa it's been a week already? I'm pretty impressed that it's a week later.

I had my first craving yesterday. I'm happy it took so long. I really wanted a glass of wine...like really, really badly. I did not give in but man did I want a glass of wine. Of course when I got home I saw that my husband was drinking a glass of wine and that made me all "grrr" on the inside...but I did not have a glass of wine.

Speaking of my husband, yesterday he joined in! He had one full day of no grains and is starting day #2. He has not given up sugar though (he enjoys 1 diet pop/soda or 1 gingerale a day) but he has been putting honey in his tea vs. white sugar. I'm proud of him *yay honey* for jumping on this with me since he is more of a carb addict than I am!

Yesterday I worked out for 90 minutes at the gym. I never workout for 90 minutes at the gym. I do my 30-45 and get out of there...but yesterday I did the circuits twice which took me about 35-40 minutes and then jumped on the bike for 30 plus a 5 minute cool down. I have been reading that on the wheat purge you don't need these long workouts but it felt really good. I got super sweaty during my bike ride. I felt so good that I am going today after work to do the elliptical even though today is not typically a gym day!

I've noticed some more skin changes. I had some hives yesterday and some extra pimple type things on my legs. I'm thinking a bunch of gunk is getting pushed out of me. After 33 years of eating lots of grain I'm not surprised (and lets be honest, I was eating well but enjoyed some processed food).

I have been tired though. There could be many factors to me being tired, but thought I'd mention that I'm tired. I'm also hardly ever hungry. I woke up this morning nauseous but then it turned into hunger...so I guess when I first wake up I'm hungry but never really hungry after that. It's odd not grabbing a snack at 10am...I like it though. I did enjoy a post workout snack yesterday which then made me not really want dinner, but ate something a bit late.

Dinner is my lunch today. I pounded out some chicken breasts and baked them in the oven with some tomatoes and peppers and then added mozzarella cheese (mmmm) and some spices too. Super yummy. That was it though...and both the husband and I only ate half the chicken and saved the other half for today. Today it is going to be eaten with a salad for lunch (lettuce and cucumbers on the salad but the chicken with the peppers and tomatoes will go on top as well). Dressing is grapeseed oil with apple cider vinegar. I also brought some grapes and almond butter to snack on. I do think that getting some natural sugars is a good thing, especially post workout...as long as there is protein attached to it.

I feel stronger and I feel much less bulky. I don't feel bloated but I should be (I'm a girl, who gets bloated at certain times of the month) though on Monday night I did feel gassy and bloated, that went away rather quickly (that may have to do with Monday being my late night at work more than this diet change).

My husband is sweet though, there are 2 beers left in our refrigerator that some house guests left us. I told him to drink them and he is saving them for me "just in case" I want a beer after this 30 days is done. I am a beer fan, but I have a feeling it will be wine and only occasionally but we shall see. Best intentions...

The gross stuff is still as consistent as it's been. A friend on instagram last night asked me how my digestive system was handling this change. I told her super. My husband is not in the same boat as me, but we had very different patterns in the past.

This weekend should be an adventure though. Last weekend there were lots of lessons learned...this weekend is going to be trickier...a 3 day festival where "gluten free" options may be available, but doubtful there will be many "grain free"...hopefully I can find a burger and just not eat the bun!

Today's meals:
breakfast omelette with zucchini, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella
lunch is leftover chicken and a salad
snack will be grapes and almond butter
dinner will be leftover pork cooked up with the leftover sweet potato

I hope that everyone has a great day!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Day 7 of no grains

Well slow cooked pork with fresh corriander seeds is delicious! I also had about 1/2 of a sweet potato. That was a yummy dinner last night.

Today is more of the same regarding food. Breakfast was 2 eggs with tomato, zucchini, olives and feta cheese. Lunch was leftover steak & peppers on lettuce (as tacos) with cheese and avocado. Dinner will be chicken thighs with roasted tomatoes and peppers.

I've noticed I am not eating nearly as much, especially at night. I'm not even hungry! My lunch today I ate it all, I could have probably not eaten everything. I did though and it was delicious.

I really do have a good amount of energy. My skin looks different. I also feel much less anxiety in general which makes me really happy. Want to stop sweating the small stuff? Stop the grains!

GROSS STUFF
Poop is continuing to be 2x a day and consistent. I've never been this consistent.

Anyway...I'm looking forward to more of this adventure. On Friday I'm going to see the doctor to get some basic allergy testing done and possibly a referral for other testing.