Food Journal -- Day 22

Today was a great day.  Starting to feel better, getting off the couch and getting the house cleaned up.  Was a great food day too.

Lost since last weigh in: 1
Total pounds lost: 11
Pounds to goal: 17

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee with half and half
Lunch: Chicken/Avocado Salad
Dinner: Paleo Spaghetti and meat sauce (spaghetti squash noodles)


I'm still glowing from dinner.  It was so incredibly good.  The spaghetti squash was so comforting.  I'm sad that was the only one that grew in my garden this year.  Now I have to go out and buy some.  It's amazing how long they'll sit in your basement and not go bad too.  I harvested it in August, and ate it in January.  How about that.

For snacks, I munched on sunflower seeds.  Wasn't really much of a snack day.

Food Journal -- Day 21

I've been pretty sick these last few days.  I've had more carbs then I probably should, but I'm still on track.  Twenty one days now, and ten pounds gone.  This is exactly how much I lost when I did the first 21 days last year.  Ten pounds is good.

Lost since last weigh in: 2
Total pounds lost: 10
Pounds to goal: 18


Here's what I ate today


Breakfast:
2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 1 apple, 2 cups of coffee with half and half (huge breakfast!)

Lunch:
Side salad, and a half a bratwurst


Dinner:
Fajita/Chicken Salad


For snacks I ran to an organic trail mix I found that's mostly sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, with a few cashews, almonds and raisins thrown in.  Other then feeling like my head was going to explode, it's been a great day.  I'm over this virus.  It's time for it to go.

Food Journal -- Day 17

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total lost: 8
Pounds to goal: 20


Again, I only sat down for one meal.  I don't have much of an appetite.  It's hard to know if it's the cold, or the diet, or a combination of both keeping my appetite at bay.  Here's what I ate.

2 cups of coffee with half and half
1 banana (I know, it's a no no) and a handful of almonds
3 hard boiled eggs mashed up with avocado and mustard
1 chicken quarter with roasted cauliflower


Other than the banana, it was a really good day.  I felt crappy because of this stupid cold, and needed some comfort food.  It worked.  It was the only snack I had...although I did finish the day with a hot cup of tea.  Being sick sucks.

Food Journal -- Day 16

Today hasn't been so great.  I woke up with a scratch in my throat...and I've come down with something.  It's not the flu, but I have a small fever.  Hopefully I'll get over it quickly.

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total pounds lost: 8
Pounds to goal: 20

I grazed again today.  I really didn't want breakfast.  Here's what I ate.

2 cups of coffee with creamer
2 chicken drum legs
A boiled egg with avocado and mustard.
Pork chops

For snacks I went to Tanka bites (if you don't know what these are, find them...they're yummy), grape tomatoes, carrots and almonds.

Food journal -- Day 15

Today started off happily at the same weight I was yesterday. It took so long for those two pounds to disappear I was afraid they'd be back this morning. They weren't.

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total pounds: 8
Pounds to goal: 20


This has been a strange day. I grazed most of the day on the crock pot chicken I made yesterday.  Just picking at it in the crockpot. I can't say that I actually sat down and had a meal today, so I'll just list what I ate instead.

2 cups of coffee with half and half
Crock pot chicken picked at through out the day
2 hard boiled eggs, mashed up with mustard and salad greens.
Handful of almonds, and blueberries.


It doesn't seem like I ate very much when I list it like that. Funny, once you're in the primal flow I don't think food is on your mind very much. So much so my kids need to remind me it's getting close to lunch and that they're hungry....because I really wasn't.

Food Journal -- Day 14

Finally!  I saw the scale change.  It's been almost a week, and I was getting grumpy about it.  This morning there was a change!

Lost since last weigh in: 2
Total pounds lost: 8
Pounds to goal: 20


I need to be more patient.  My average loss last year was 10 pounds a month.  That's a healthy speed, and 2 pounds a week is also a healthy speed.  Breathe and be ok with it!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 cups of coffee with creamer
Lunch:  Chicken drumsticks with side salad
Dinner: Crockpot chicken...super yum.


Today for snacks I ran to almonds, and more chicken drum sticks!!

Menu Plan

I'm writing this menu plan with a tad of grumpiness.  I've boycotted my journal for the last few days since I haven't lost anything in almost a week.  It's frustrating, but...I must continue, right?  Tighten things up.  I'm sure it's because of my son's birthday, and that I made sweets last week.  This week will hopefully be better.

Budget wise, I'm feeling really confident (talk about moody, lol).  We were able to stretch so much money last week, and we didn't even use all the meat we bought.  We took money our early, because another grocery store was having a huge sale on chicken.  I bought a whole roaster for 5 bucks!  I wish it was organic, but it will have to do.


Sunday: Chicken drumsticks with hubs best rub (will post the recipe!)
Monday: Roasted Whole Chicken
Tuesday: Choir night (leftovers!)
Wednesday: Pork Loin -- I will be adjusting this recipe to not use sugar, and will be posting the results!
Thursday:  Chicken quarters - I should mention I bought 4 chicken quarters for 3 bucks, tyvm!! :D
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Improvise!

For more menu's check out Organizing Junkie

Food Journal - Day 10

Today, I'm back to normal.  Less sweets, more creative cooking and feeling good.  Yesterday was a celebration, and life is meant to be celebrated.  I won't feel bad about the cake anymore.  I won't be having any more either.

Today I will be experimenting with a failed pulled pork.  It's not completely failed, but it's not fantastic. I'm turning it into some stew and altering a recipe I found on the interwebs.  If it's fantastic, I'll post the recipe.

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total pounds lost: 6
Pounds to go: 22

Breakfast: 2 eggs (I'm really tired of eggs...) and two cups of coffee
Lunch: Last of the leftover shephard's pie
Dinner:  Pork Stew


For snacks, I let myself have one of the muffins I made yesterday, and almonds.  Honestly, today wasn't a heavy snacking day.  I just wasn't hungry most of the day.  This morning I was hungry, and I have to admit, it was nice to be hungry and not feel the anxious shake of having low blood sugar too.  I was just hungry.  That's it.

Food Journal -- Day 9

Yesterday I felt awful, and even though I didn't each much I still didn't loose anything.  I'm ok with that.  This morning was the first time I didn't feel like eating anything for breakfast.  I'm not sure if it has anything to do with feeling sick all day yesterday, or if my body is just saying it's not hungry.  Either way, if I'm not hungry I don't eat.  Intermittent fasting is part of the primal diet.  So long as fat intake is high, you're body will know it's not in danger of starving.

Today is my son's 10th birthday...we will celebrate of course with cake.  So I don't go into complete cake envy, I'm making my husband and I a special treat thanks to the Civilized Caveman.  If I wasn't so early into my reset, I'd have cake...trust me.  However being that I just started it's not time yet for those kinds of cheats in my mind and it would set back all the work I've accomplished.  Well, maybe not, but I don't want to risk it.



Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total lost: 6
Pounds to goal: 22

Breakfast:  Coffee with creamer (and yes, that was it!)
Lunch: Pulled pork
Dinner: Shepherd's pie, pulled pork


For snacks I had raspberry banana muffins that I made to help with the temptation of cake.  I had to try my cake though, and I did.  I hope I don't regret it tomorrow.  It was tasty, but all the leftovers will be going to gluten eaters.  I've had enough.  I'm sure though my carbs were off the chart, so back to being super strict tomorrow!

Food Journal -- Day 8

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total lost: 6
Pounds to goal: 22

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, 1 cup of coffee with half and half
Lunch: Leftover shepherd's pie, side salad
Dinner: Pulled pork, sautéd cabbage

For snacks today, I went to almonds.


I spent most of the day feeling nauseous.  Not really sure why...but my stomach is seriously upset with me.  I typically have a stomach o' steel, but I think something I ate wasn't right.  Sad...I cooked most of it, hubs cooked the rest.

Anyway, food has been light today because I didn't want to eat.  I did eat, just not much.

Menu Plan

Last week's menu plan was an awesome success.  I didn't always eat everything in order, but we stuck to the plan and stayed with in budget.  This week was a huge pork sale at the grocery store.  Pork was half price, so I bought a huge 7 pound loin, and a roaster to make pulled pork out of.  We're not typically such heavy pork eaters, but the deal was too good to pass up.  We decided to cut up the big 7 pound loin into 3 pieces, roughly 2 and a quarter pounds each.  That boils down to just about 8 bucks a meal for meat for a family of four.

Let's hope we can do it again!


Monday: Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday: Pulled Pork, with a side salad

Wednesday: Cubed steak with capers (we didn't get to it last week), sautéd mushrooms

Thursday: Garlic Balsamic Pork Loin, with roasted carrots (I want sweet potatoes, but I can't just yet!)

Friday: Leftovers!

Saturday: Citrus Pork Tenderloin

Sunday: Leftovers!


Shopping List:
1 pound of ground beef
carton of eggs
celery
Pork, pork, and more pork


For more menu plans check out Organizing Junkie

Food Journal -- Day 7

I went to bed last night with some pain in my legs...and groggily I laid in bed with my iphone and googled leg pain - ketosis.  What I found is that I was sorta right.  I said before I thought it was sugar withdrawal, and I was kinda right.  So, don't take this as a professional opinion, because you know if it's on the internet then it must be true.  However, what I read last night says that in ketosis your body purposefully pulls all the water out of your muscles in search of sugar to use.  Which can also strip your body of potassium and electrolytes...and potentially lead to dehydration?

I know I've been thirsty, and drinking much more water...and the interwebs suggests that I lay off diuretics like coffee.  Fat chance.  The interwebs also say taking a potassium supplement may help, along with some beef jerky, because it's high in electrolytes.  Who knew?




Anyway...here's the stats for today.


Lost since last weigh in: 1
Total lost: 6
Pounds to goal: 22

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, and 2 cups of coffee with half and half
Lunch: Chicken leg, leftover lamb, and an apple (!!) with almond butter
Dinner: Shepherd's Pie sans crust

For snacks I ran to cashews or almonds.  My carb count is still pretty low, but probably not low enough for ketosis.  Without really counting things out, I would imagine I hover around the 100 mark.  Here's an image from Mark's Daily Apple to help you figure out where you should be.

Image Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/press/the-primal-blueprint-diagrams/#axzz2HO7fJlsC

Food Journal -- Day 6

Today was a different day.  I was alert, and energized and stayed busy all day.   So much so that I typically write this journal all day, and it's a little after 5:00pm and I'm just starting.

Lost since last weigh in: 0
Total lost: 5
Pounds to goal: 23

Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg and pork sausage patty, with 2 cups of coffee and half and half.
Lunch: Lamb leftovers with mushrooms and cabbage..the picture there was my plate. :)
Dinner:  Chicken quarter with side salad, with home made italian dressing (recipe to come soon!)


Today was easy.  Easiest day by far.  I didn't have many cravings, and for snacks when I breezed through the kitchen was cashews.  I was too busy to need to snack. :)

Food Journal -- Day 5

Another pound lost this morning, brings my total to 5 pounds.  Can't wait for these first initial days to be over!!


Since last weigh in: 1
Total lost: 5
Pounds to goal: 23
What I weighed: 168!


Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee, 2 sausages and 2 eggs over easy
Lunch: sautéd cabbage and bratwurst
Dinner: butterflied leg of lamb, cabbage, and mushrooms

I think I may be over the hump now.  My legs have started to ache like they did last year, but it isn't nearly as bad.  Last year, the pain was quite intense.   I took pain medicine...I'm not exactly sure why my legs hurt when I go through this process, perhaps it's sugar withdrawal, or something.  My energy was up today, and we cleaned house and took down the Christmas tree and all that.  Over all, good day.  Easier day.  Yeah...I'm thinking I'm over the hump soon, and will have resumed the fat burning! :)

Food Journal -- Day 4

This morning started off good and bad.  I had a marvelous breakfast, and severe cravings for sweet. It was all I could do not to drink my son's orange juice, and I don't even drink orange juice!  I feel like my body may be ready to make the switch now, and is just fighting me the whole way.  It's sad, honestly.  I've done this  before.  I lived an entire year primal.  I let loose last month, and I feel it's mostly that as to why this has been challenging.  I needed to reset long before December, but I knew it would be mentally healthy for me to wait until after the holidays.

So if you're doing this for the first time, please know the first time around involved tears.  I remember going to the grocery store and crying over pudding.  Yes. Pudding.  There have been no tears this time, but I would be lying if I said it was easy.  Anyway, here are my stats for the day.




Since last weigh in: 2
Total lost: 4
Pounds to goal: 24

Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, avocado slices, topped with chili (holy hell that was amazing too)
Lunch: More Chili!
Dinner: Roasted Chicken, with salad.

I've lost 4 pounds in 4 days.  I'm pretty sure it's still not fat...well, it might be a little, but I haven't felt the reset just yet, so I'm not giving it much weight (I'm so punny!).  It's encouraging that I've lost anything at all...but I'll jump for joy when the first 10 pounds are gone.  Then maybe I'll let myself have an apple or something.  I want some fruit!

Food Journal -- Day 3

This morning I woke up hungry, but once I had some coffee I felt ok.  About 10:00 my blood sugar felt like it dropped.  I had to run to the grocery store to get a green pepper and an onion for the deer chili for dinner, and it started dropping while I was out (of course).  My hands shook, and my mind raced while I was putting everything in the crock pot.  It cleared up about an hour later.  I'll be so glad when my body resets...I hate this feeling.

Since last weigh in: 0
Total lost: 2
Pounds to goal: 26





Breakfast: 1 cup of coffee with half and half
Brunch: Leftover turkey hash
Lunch: turkey pieces and a side salad
Dinner: Deer chili with avocado slices

For snacks, I ran to cashews and turkey bits.

This day has been kinda hard.  It's a good sign.  It means things are working.  I think.  I hope!  I'm not disheartened by there not being any weight loss today.  Honestly, I was surprised by yesterdays loss.  Last year when loosing weight, I averaged 10 pounds a month of loss.  I'm ok with that, and I'd love to have that again.  Need to get through this transition first.

Primal Turkey Hash

I still have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving in the freezer, so I decided to bring it down this week for some primal comfort food yumminess. I adapted this to suit what I had on hand, and come to think of it everything in this recipe was a leftover of some sort that I had on hand.  It was so wonderfully perfect for this cold winter day.


Here's what I had:

• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion, sliced 
• 1 1/4 cup of pumpkin mash 
• 2 cups roasted carrots (leftovers from last night) 
• 1 cup of chicken stock 
• 2 cups of shredded turkey pieces 
• 1 tbsp oregano salt and pepper to taste
• (opt.) I had some cabbage laying around, which I tossed in just before I added in the pumpkin mash.

Directions:

1. Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes, until clear.
2. Add pumpkin mash, and leftover roasted carrots.  Cook for about 5 minutes (since they've already been cooked before)
3. Add chicken stock, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add turkey and spices, simmer for another 10 minutes

 This Turkey Hash is an adaptation of a recipe from Elana's Pantry

Food Journal -- Day 2

This morning started off with a surprise.  I jumped on the scale right away, first thing and I was already down two pounds from yesterday.  Too early I think to be fat, but I'll take it anyway.

Total pounds lost:  2
Pounds to goal:  28 (ok...technically 26, my math didn't add up yesterday)


Breakfast: Two cups of coffee, each with a dash of half and half and two scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Leftover chicken halves from yesterday, with a small portion of cooked carrots
Dinner:  Turkey Hash and a side salad.

Overall I felt ok today.  Around 11:00 I needed to eat lunch.  I got a bit shakey, when I got hungry...a definite sign the switch hasn't flipped yet.  About 2:00 I got sleepy, and almost considered taking a nap.  Really will be glad once the switch is flipped and I start burning fat instead of sugar.  Last year the transition was much harder, physically and emotionally.  I want a sweet after I eat, but it's not an overwhelming need and I'm able to brush it off and move on.

Over all the day has been ok, but I think there's a little carb flu going on.  Very sleepy and tired.

Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette

So simple to make, so yummy.  I think it's easy to have so many home made salad dressings to help keep your salads different every day.

Most recipes I found for balsamic vinaigrette have sugar, or honey.  I don't think it's necessary, after being primal for so long the sweet of balsamic vinegar is more than enough sweet this recipe needs.

You can easily double this recipe, I made this one for two adults for a week's worth.

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2-3/4 cup oil of choice (try sesame, garlic, or olive oil)
• 1 tbsp of dried basil, or a handful of fresh basil
• 2 cloves of garlic, or 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp of dried chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Put all the ingredients in a jar or bottle, and shake before using.  I don't refrigerate this because it makes the oil weird, so I only make what I can use in a week.

Food Journal -- Day 1

Last night, I partied it up with some friends of mine.  I ate cheese, and had a few glasses of wine.  Even had some doritos.  Ugh.  I felt horrible when I woke up this morning, and I knew it was the food, not the wine that made me feel that way.  I weighed myself for the first time in a few weeks.  For the last few weeks, I let myself have as much hard cider and chips as I wanted. Ugh.  I payed for it.

I've gained 10lbs this holiday season.  I really did.  Granted..I'm still 40 pounds less than I was last year on this day.  I'm still winning the weight loss game.  My goal is to loose 30 pounds by the end of the year.  I know you want to know how much I weighed this morning.  I'll only write it because this blog gets next to no hits compared to my other.  Last year, January 1st, I weighed 209 pounds.  This morning it was 173.  I'm proud of that number, but not especially so since I hung around 163 pounds most of the second half of this year.

So that's where I start this year though....173 pounds, hoping to get to 145 pounds at some point.  If I get there, depending on how I look and feel, I may go for more...but baby steps.  Thirty pounds is a great goal, right?

So here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: Two cups of coffee with about a tbsp of half and half in each.
Lunch: One pork bratwurst with a side salad, with home made garlic balsamic vinaigrette.
Dinner: Chicken Quarters with roasted carrots, and a side salad.

For snacks I ran to almonds for crunchy, and made a scrambled egg for a mid afternoon snack.

There was a moment early in the afternoon I felt shaky.  I'm not exactly sure why, it was in between a few handfuls of almonds.  Other than that, I felt ok most of the day.