Continue with this blog, start another, or just not blog?

I have been really off the wagon!

The weightloss wagon and the blogging wagon!

When I last blogged, I was in between rounds of the Whole 30.

But then I tried a new program.  It is the Arbonne 30 day cleanse.  I did that for a few months, but did not really get results.  It was easy.....two shakes a day plus one clean meal. I did pretty well with the two shakes, but my one clean meal was not always clean...

Now, I come to a dilemma.  Do I continue on with this blog, do I start fresh with another, or do I just not blog at all?  I have something new in the works for myself.  It is going to be some big changes.  I am not sure if I want to continue with this blog, because it is going to be a new change for me, and starting fresh may be a good start.

What to do what to do!!!

Between Rounds

My first round is done!  I did it! Yippee!

Now I know I am going to have some things that are non-compliant, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do in between, but I am starting Round 2 in a few days.

At lunch, there was this really awesome ice cream cake.  I had a piece.  It was delicious, and I decided to not feel guilty about eating it.

Then came dinner.  I have been craving PF Changs forever.  I have been telling my family that they will be taking me there for my birthday (my family is not too crazy about PF Changs).  However, this birthday, I was doing my whole 30, and I kept telling myself that when it was over, we would go.  As I got closer to the end of the round, I began having doubts.  Did I really want to go there?  Shouldn't I reintroduce some foods first?

But, I know myself.  I know I should have just started a new round right away, but I would be always thinking of the meal from PF Changs.  So, I ordered my meal to go.  I brought it home.  As I drove home, I was so happy!  It smelled so good!  I was excited and could not wait to dig in!  So, I ate the entire thing.  And you know what?  It really was not as good as I know it was the last time I had it.  Don't get me wrong. It was good, but it was not as good as I wanted it to be.  In fact, soon after, my stomach started hurting.  For the rest of the night, I felt awful!  I even told my husband that it wasn't worth it.

That was Wednesday.

Thursday.....right back to Whole 30.  No regrets, no feelings of missed meals.....it was not worth it.  I felt natural to be cooking my eggs in ghee and roasting some sweet potatoes.  I was not grumpy to be going "back" to whole 30 foods.

I know I should not have had that meal from PF Changs.  I know I should have done the reintroduction, but sometimes, you have to do what you have to do.  Today, I do not feel like I have to go to a certain place, or eat a certain food because I used to.  I am fine without them, and maybe even a little more happier!  I will officially go to round 2 later this weekend.  I do want to have a glass of wine before I start again.  Who knows....maybe I will have the same experience with wine as I did with PF Changs!

Whole 30 Week 4 Log

Here is my final post for my last week of my first Whole 30!
Day 22:

Holy Cow....today is day 22 for me!

I am shocked.  I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this.  But look at me!  Day 22....8 days to go!

I know this Whole 30 wasn't perfect....but it was pretty darn close!  I stayed on track.  Even when I went out with my girlfriends, I stayed on plan.  I did not have a drink.  I did not eat the pizza.  I had two people ask me if I wanted to go and have a glass of wine with them, and I said no thank you.  I felt that if I went out with them for a glass, I would have had a glass, so I stayed home.  As I am getting stronger, I will go with them...but have something else instead!

I stared to drink iced tea (unsweetened) and since I started, I find that I am not sleeping as well.  I have to be careful with caffeine and can't have it after late afternoon, because then I can't sleep!  So I decided that I would stick to tea in the morning, but then just water after that.

So far, I am so glad I did this!  I know this is something I can do!  I think after the 30 days, I am going to take a small break (a few days)....then go for another 30 days.  But for now, I am going to focus on the next 8 days!

Day 23:

M1: eggs and sausage

M2: shaved brussel sprouts, kahula pig, apple with almond butter

M3: Steak, broccoli, sweet potatoes, plantain chips

Day 23 was great!  I stayed compliant, felt good.  We went out for dinner, and I asked for no butter on anything, and had a sweet potato instead of fries.  My family started with the mozzarella sticks.  That was hard for me not to just have a bite, but I didn't!  I drank lots of water yesterday and stayed away from the iced tea because I am having trouble sleeping, but last night, I still had trouble.  I am tired, but I just can't fall asleep at night.  Last night I was still looking at my alarm clock at 2am.   I read another thread on the forum where someone suggested that they make sure they are eating enough veggies.  I admit that I do not have the full 1-3 servings at each meal.  

After dinner, I went to Trader Joes.  Found ghee, plantain chips, avocados, and a few other things to try that are compliant.  I am so glad we can have avocados!  I love them!

So, the end is near....only 7 days to go!

Day 24:

M1: 3 hardboiled eggs, apple/strawberrys

M2: avocado, plaintain chips, apple with almond butter, kahula pig with eggplant strata

M3:  Kahula pig, eggplant strata, pumpkin custard (pumpkin, bananas, coconut milk, eggs, spices, chopped pecans)

I know that the custard is technically not compliant, but I just wanted to try it.  It was good!  I put some in containers to have for breakfast for the next few days.

I'm still not sleeping, and I think I know why.  I have rheumatoid arthritis, and I am supposed to take an injection weekly of meds.  For the past few weeks, I have not taken it.  I am a horrible patient, and I know I need to be better about taking care of myself, but I also just wanted to see how long I could go with out it.  Well, I have found that I need to take it.  I have been having flare ups, and have been in more pain than I have been in a long time.  I went to renew my prescription, but my doctor wont renew it without getting my blood work done.  So, off to the lab either after work today, or first thing tomorrow morning.  I think that because my body has not been getting the right meds, the meds that were stored up are wearing off....and now I can't sleep.

So, back to the injections I go.  But the good news is even though I have not been sleeping, I am not as tired as I thought I would be!

Day 29:

Good morning!  Can you believe it?  I am on day 29!!!!  One more day to go!

I haven't been logging my meals every day, but I have been staying on track.  I know that preparation is key for me.  If I do not have some things made on the weekends, my meals tend to be heavy on the protein and fruit.  So this weekend, I made another pot of chocolate chili (Well Fed)  and I made some Eggs in Purgatory (from Nom Nom Paleo).  Those eggs were fantastic!  I had some for dinner last night and breakfast this morning.  Yum-o!

Sleep has started to get better....thank goodness!  Overall, I feel great!  I feel like I am in control of what I eat, and even though there are a lot of restricted foods, I am not upset about what I can eat.  There is something about being able to eat an entire avocado and bacon and sweet potatoes that make me happy....even if I can't have pasta and cheese!

So, here is to going strong for the last two days of this round!

Day 31!!!!

Yippee!  I did it!  I did a whole 30!  Today is day 31, and I finally got to weigh myself!

For the 30 days, I lost 9 pounds!

I know weight loss is not the main purpose of doing a whole 30, but I am very pleased with the 9 pounds!  Here are some other things I noticed:

• I don't have to have coffee every morning.  I am a type of coffee drinker who likes her flavored creamers.  Without the creamer, I didn't even want any.  
• I can drink tea without sweetener.  I have been replacing my morning coffee with iced tea or a hot tea.  No honey, no Truvia, no nothing!  Maybe I will attempt black coffee next!
• I can love the way I eat, and not feel guilty.  I've said it a million times, but when you can eat an entire avocado on top of your chili, you don't feel too deprived!  I love that I can have bacon, potatoes (although I stuck with just the sweet potatoes this round), and lots of other healthy fats, and it doesn't get you off plan!  No guilt!
• I love that I do not feel so bloated and tired.  My face does not look as puffy, and I am feeling better overall.
• I learned that I need to prep my food for the week.  If I don't, I am scraping together things and it can be easier to go off track.
• I learned that I am introducing new foods to my family.  My daughter has tried some of my meals, or the veggies that I make for myself when they get something that is not compliant.  I am still working on my son and husband.....but I am focusing on small steps for them!
• I am done with my whole 30, but I didn't run to grab the first bagel/muffin/donut/etc that I saw.  I am still eating the way I have been for the past 30 days.

Now that I am done with round 1, I am going to jump into round 2.  I know I should do some of the reintroduction....but I want to continue right now.  I am going to just take a meal or two to have a little something off plan, but I am going to stay 98% compliant until I restart Sunday or Monday.

I am so glad I did this.  It really has changed my life!

Whole 30 Week 3 Log

The next few posts are going to be my log from my whole 30 adventure.  Here is week 3:

Day 15:

M1:  eggs with peppers/onions

M2:  apple with almond butter, chili, avocado

M3:  4 eggs, Larabar

Today was really low on the veggies.  By the time I got home last night, I just didn't want to really even eat, so I just made some eggs.  Tomorrow I am going to focus on upping my veggie intake.

Day 16

M1: Chili

M2: Salad, turkey, apple with almond butter

M3:  eggs, bacon, sweet potato

Day 17

M1: eggs and sausage

M2: salad, steak

M3: apple with almond butter, eggs. kale chips

Yesterday, Day 17, was rough.  I woke up miserable.  I was so low, sad, down, depressed.  I was absolutely miserable and all I wanted to do was cry.  As the day went on, I started feeling better, but it was a long day!  Today, Day 18, I do feel better, although it wouldn't take much to be better than yesterday!  I made some ginger zucchini soup yesterday for Thursday!

Day 18:

Felt great today!  

M1:  eggs with bacon, Larabar

M2: chili, zucchini/ginger soup, apple with almond butter

M3: chicken, green beans, strawberries, avocadp

I am so glad I was feeling better than Wednesday!  I am going to need to make some more things for next week.  I am trying to up my veggies since I feel I am not eating as much of those as I should.

Anyway, things are going well, and I am loving this!

Whole 30 Week 2 Log

The next few posts are going to be my log from my whole 30 adventure.  Here is week 2:

Day 8:

B: sweet potato, onion, bacon, rx bar

L:  green beans, chicken salad, grapes, pineapple

D:  peppers, onions, chicken apple sausage

S: Plantain chips, guac

Falling into a groove....but running low on supplies!  Last week I prepped so much, but this week, not enough.  Looks like another trip to the grocery store!  

Day 9 - 14

This past week has been a whirlwind.  I was out of work for a few days for my teammate's funeral, then I was off for a wedding.  Didn't even get near a computer to log, but I have many successes this week!  I can't remember every meal, but I do remember my challenges each day!  So here it goes:

Wednesday:  My teammates funeral.  It was a really sad day, and a huge group of us went out to lunch.  I had a burger....no bun, no cheese, no mayo, but had the lettuce, onion and tomato and had a sweet potato...plain on the side.

Thursday:  I made cakes for a wedding (I also make cupcakes and cakes on the side, and I agreed to make these cakes months ago).  I can proudly say that I made the cakes with out eating anything.  No frosting, no batter, no cake.  I will usually taste the frosting to make sure it is right, but instead, my daughter offered to be my taste tester!  I am so proud that I was able to make those cakes without going off plan!

Friday:  Delivered the cakes to the venue, made a huge batch of chili.

Saturday and Sunday:  Brought the kids to my mom's house, so she could go to the wedding with my stepfather.  My parents are the caregivers for my step-grandmother (who is 94), and they can't do much without someone else being there.  So I took the kids and stayed there so they could have the weekend to get away.  My daughter and I made chocolate chip cookies (again, not even a taste!), and I made sure I stayed compliant all weekend!

With being away most of the weekend, I did not get to prep for this week....but I still have some chili left, and I will just have to make something else tonight. I am dying to weigh myself.  I almost talked myself into doing it this weekend, but I stayed strong!  I used to be a daily weigher, so this is quite the challenge!  But I keep reminding myself that this is more about eating healthy, not just losing weight (even though I need to lose quite a bit).  

Anyway, I just wanted to check in.  I am at my half way point!  Day 15!  Woohoo!!!

Whole 30 Week 1 Log

I bought the books.  I went grocery shopping.  I planned some meals.  I cleaned out my pantry.  I am ready!

On April 18th, I started my first Whole 30.  I had planned to blog as I went along, but I was using the Whole 30 webpage forums to log my days, and it just got to be too much to do both.  So, I have complied my logs and will publish them in the next few posts for each week.  This one starts with Week 1.

April 19, 2016
Yesterday I started my first Whole 30.  After a week of planning, shopping, organizing, and reading, I was ready!  I spent Sunday in the kitchen.  I made chili, zucchini soup, mayo, Sunshine sauce, Scotch eggs, hard boiled eggs, cooked ground beef, and chicken thighs.  I made sure I have lots of veggies in the fridge....broccoli, green beans, onions, peppers, snap peas, scallions, and avocados.  I also made sure I have some fruit as well.  In the pantry, I stocked up on a few Larabars, sunflower butter, ghee, olive oil, and almond butter.  I was ready!

Then I noticed that the sunflower butter I used in the Sunshine Sauce had added sugar.  Sunshine Sauce went into the garbage!

My fridge and pantry were prepped!  I am ready to go!

Day 1:  Monday

B:  Scotch egg, zucchini soup (no coffee....I like creamer too much)

L:  chili with avocado....this was so delicious!!!  Cherry pie Larabar (also delicious)

S: hard boiled egg, cashews

D:sweet potato with ghee, 3 eggs cooked in ghee 

By dinner time, my head was hurting so much and I was a bit grumpy, so I just went easy and did a baked sweet potato and eggs.  I had planned on cooking up my spaghetti squash and remake some Sunshine Sauce for some chicken pad thai, but decided it would be better to go super easy for dinner.  Maybe I'll make the pad thai for tomorrow!

Day 1 was a success!  Yea!  Only 29 to go. 

Day 2:

B:  Scotch egg, zucchini soup, hot tea

L: chili, avocado, apple with almond butter

D:  Chicken spaghetti squash pad thai

S:  cashews

When the day started, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the day,  I had a splitting headache and I was very grumpy and feeling down.  As the day went on, I started feeling better and better.  By the time I got home, I was not starving, and my headache was almost gone!  I made spaghetti squash chicken pad thai, and it was really good!  I have a ton of spaghetti squash left over for other meals, and I still have a container of the pad thai for another meal!

I even had a cup of hot tea this morning.  It is not my usual coffee, but I just can't do black coffee.  Had some tea instead, and it was good!

Off to day 3!

Day 3:

B:  chili (I just couldn't do a Scotch Egg)

S:  apple with almond butter

L:  Epic turkey bar, avocado

D:  sweet potato hash (With onions and bacon), 2 eggs

S:  apple pie Larabar

Yesterday was a success in my book!  I had a dr appointment with my rheumatologist at lunch time, so I had to eat in the car.  Actually, lunch was spread out a little....I had my apple and almond butter late morning, turkey Epic bar on the way to the appointment, then the avocado when I got home!  I made sweet potato hash for dinner, and had enough for my breakfast tomorrow.  I will also admit that it was not exactly an emergency when I ate the Larabar....I really wanted to try it, and I was feeling some cravings...I had made macaroni and cheese for my family to eat and I did not take one bite.  I really wanted to, but I told myself that if I didn't take a bite, I could have the Larabar later to try.  Not the best thing to do, but it got me through the day and I did not eat anything that was not compliant.  It was nice to not have a headache and not be starving!

3 days down, 27 to go!  Woohoo!

Day 4:  

B: RX bar, leftover sweet potato hash

L:  Chili with avocado, apple with almond butter

D:  Sweet potato, bacon, onions, eggs, ghee

Yesterday was a very difficult day.  Not food wise.  Personally.  One of my teammates is not well....in fact, the family will be taking her off of life support on Friday.  Our staff was told yesterday afternoon, however, I was told in the morning.  Things were really sad around here, and Friday is not going to be any better.  But, I stayed compliant, and did not binge on candy, soda or pasta (which is what I wanted to do).  I know Friday will be rough, so I am so glad I have things prepped from Sunday so I can just grab and go.

Day 5

B:  zucchini soup, sweet potatoes with onion, bacon

L: chili, avocado, apple, almond butter

D:  3 eggs, sweet potato, onion, bacon

Day 6

B:  zucchini soup, rx bar, banana

L:  spaghetti squash pad thai

D:  Chili, avocado

Day 7:

B:  2 eggs, plaintain chips, guac

L:  strawberries, chicken salad, cashews

D:  Chicken salad, green beans, roasted sweet potatoes with onion

S:  Larabar

The last few days have been a blur.  My teammate passed away Friday afternoon, and things have been just awful.  I work in a school, and our school was one in a million....we were not co-workers, we are family.  She passed so suddenly, and we are all still in shock.

With that in mind, I stayed on plan.  My family and I went to Red Robin Saturday night for dinner.  Do you know that they have an allergen menu that you can customize with what you want to stay away from?  They had everything listed except sugar.  I had a burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and guacamole (no bun, cheese or mayo), and steamed broccoli.  My family enjoyed their meals, including a small tower of onion rings, and I did ok!  After, we had a campfire with the neighbors.  Usually I like to have a beverage at that time, and I did.  I had a sparkling water!  Yea!

Yesterday was Sunday.  A lot was going around about my teammate....calling hours, funeral arrangements, how we were planning with the students today, etc.  I probably ate more strawberries than I should have, and I did have a Larabar at night.  But overall, my Week 1 has been a success!

Taking Control

The last few weeks have been crazy.

I started Weight Watchers a while back.  At first, I was so happy to be eating things that were normally "off limits" for me.  I was free from guilt, and I was feeling great.

Until I wasn't.

I have been "doing" Weight Watchers, but not really.

I have been really paying attention to what I eat, but I haven't been very good about tracking what I eat.  I have made lots of changes to what I eat, and what my family eats, however, I have not been a poster child for Weight Watchers.

Here's the thing.  I love that I can eat whatever I want, as long as I count it.  I love the challenge of fitting in all my points and finding ways to lower points of the food that I eat.  I love that even my kids have been trying new things, and that the food they eat is healthier.

But here's the problem.

I have rheumatoid arthritis.  I have to take a shot every week, and medication every day, just so I can move.  For a while, I have been doing great.  The amount of pain I have has been significantly lower.  I am not in constant pain all the time.  But lately, I have been.  My fingers have become inflamed and hurt, my feet have been constantly hurting and I limp a lot.  My elbows have hurt so bad at times, I could hardly sleep.

Augh.  I hate it.  But I know that what I eat has an impact on my joint pain.  When I was doing Take Shape For Life, I was eating less carbs, less sugar, more protein, more veggies.  I felt good then because of what I was eating.  I know this.  I also know that since I was eating a lot of their meals, I was eating a lot of soy.  When I did eat something off plan, it would mess up my weight loss, but it wouldn't cause me a ton of pain either.

Now, I am doing Weight Watchers (kind of), and eating more carbs.  I am making better choices than I have in the past, but my eating habits have changed again.  Is it a coincidence?  I think not.

Going back on TSFL is just not in the picture right now.   It is expensive, and our budget can not handle it.  Plus, I was questioning the amount of soy in their products and wondering how that was affecting me.  Staying on Weight Watchers is still something I can do, I just need to do it.

So here I am again, at a fork in the road.  What do I do?

I started researching diet/nutrition and how food affects people with RA.  I have heard of elimination diets before (I was on one with TSFL), except my main focus was always on losing weight, not seeing how different foods affects my body.  That's when I found The Whole30.  I have seen it on social media before, and have heard of people doing the program.  Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I figured it was something like Atkins or that crazy Paelo diet and just ignored it.  But as I switched over to Weight Watchers, and I was seeing how my RA was flaring up more and more, I decided to learn more about it.

Last Friday, I bought the book.  I read it mostly cover to cover.  There were some very interesting points in the book.  First of all, if you don't know what The Whole 30 is, it is a program that you do for 30 days.  You eliminate dairy, all sugar, all legumes, all grain, all alcohol for the entire 30 days.  No cheating at all.  After 30 days, you can start to re-introduce those things to see if you are sensitive to those items cause inflammation. Since I was first diagnosed with RA, so many people asked me if certain foods cause flare-ups.  I could never tell you yes or no, because I didn't want to give up cheese and grains.  After doing my research, here are some points I noticed:

1.  They give tough love.  One of their sayings is that drinking your coffee black is not hard.  Battling cancer is hard.  Birthing a baby is hard.  Drinking coffee without cream is not hard.  I know that there is a little voice in my head that will whine to me about wanting _________.  Telling me I have worked so hard, I deserve ____________.  They recognize that and basically tell you to tell it to be quiet.

2.  They give a guideline about what to expect from Day 1 to Day 30.  They actually talk about days you will will to punch someone in the face.  Days you will be cranky and tired.  They don't sugar coat it and focus on just the good times.  You have an idea of what to expect beyond the saying: the first three days are the hardest.  Once you get past those, it gets so much better.  Well, they do say that, but they also talk about times a few weeks in where you are most likely to feel good, and bad.  I like that honesty.

3.  One of the rules is to not weigh or measure yourself at all.  You can before you begin and after, but not during.  I am one of those people who will weigh myself a number of times throughout the day, and if it goes down, I want to celebrate.  If it goes up, I want to drown my sorrows with ice cream.  Putting my scale in the garage will be a freeing experience!

4.  Cheese.  Oh cheese.  You will be the most difficult to give up.  I love cheese.  That makes me sad, but I know I will see you again!

5.  Sugar is in everything.  Really.....everything.  Check the labels of the food you get.  If it has a label, it probably has sugar in it.  OK...maybe not everything, but a lot of the things I eat!

There is so much I discovered while doing my research, but my hands are starting to hurt and I am running out of time to write.  I have not begun the plan yet.  Instead I am planning.  I am eating the few things that are not on the program that my family will not eat (some yogurt, wraps, diet soda, etc.)  I have been looking at ways to do meal prep for the week.  When I have done it in the past, I would prep for a few days, but then I would fall apart.

I am really looking forward to doing this.  I know it is going to be hard, but not impossible.  I can do this for 30 days.  I really feel like I am taking control of my life.  I have a plan that will help me learn more about me.  More about my body.  My health.

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month.  I have been telling my family for months that we will be going to P.F. Changs for my birthday dinner.  I think we are going to go sooner, maybe this week, so that I can start sooner.  I am not going to give up my one chance to go there for dinner (my family are not big fans of P.F. Changs, so in order to get them to go, it has to be for a reason.....like my birthday).  Then on my actual birthday, I can know that I did not have to give it up!

So for now, I am planning meals, organizing my pantry and kitchen, and getting my family to go to P.F. Changs.  Once that is done, I will start!  I'll get back with the official start date, but I am thinking it will be Saturday!

Have a great week!