This Isn't Dieting Like Dieting January 19

Week 3

January 19

Week two is in the bag. It was so much better this week, partially because I am feeling better physically than I have in a very long time, and partly because I discovered mayo, I really cannot emphasize enough how this is a life saver for me. As I said earlier my stomach is already less bloated than it has been in 30 years, as a result I can see that I will have to be buying a belt soon. I have a disease that my mother used to call “noassatall” which means I have no hips or butt, so my stomach was the only thing I had to hold up my pants. Most importantly, my daughter and I are connecting in a very special way. She began this journey 5 days before I did and we are sharing recipes and milestones. This week my other daughter is beginning The Whole30®  it is an exciting time in our lives. But it is much more than that. 

As I am beginning week three, I feel like I am over the hump so to speak. I don't think at all about what I am missing. I think about what new foods I can create or try. I think about where I was just two short weeks ago and where I am now. On January 1st I was tired and depressed. I had been depressed for several years, but it was getting bad and harder to hide. I am a journaler. I have kept journals for my grandchildren since their birth. I love chronicling their lives, but I have not written in them in over a year. I am hating my job and really didn't think I would make it till the end of the year. I was looking for ways to turn my work week into a 4 day week. How many leave days did I have left? Were there workshops that I could convince my principal I needed to attend? I used to turn down the chance to attend workshops, because I didn't like leaving my kids in the hands of others. It isn't that I don't still love my students. It is the whole climate. I am not the only one who feels it, not by a long shot.

So what has changed? I can see the depression leaving. I haven’t picked up my journals yet, but I am keeping my lifestyle journal. I am not jumping out of bed anxious to get to work, but I don’t sit in my room and cry when I need to be getting dressed for work. I find myself smiling more. I know I smile more because the kids have told me. I had the opportunity to attend a workshop and I said, “No thanks.”

I have a number of health problems, many of them come with age. I have an underactive thyroid, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, sciatica (major automobile accident and two surgeries later), migraines and angina and my liver count is not good. I have not had a migraine since I began the program. I usually have 3 – 4 a week. I have not had a flair up of Crohn’s and I am going to see if I can survive/function without my arthritis injections. I only take the injection weekly, so it may take a few weeks to notice any negative repercussions. Most importantly I want to see if I can cope without the pain meds for my back. To that end, I have already cut out one a day. If this is the best I can hope for, it will be life changing.

Not Just Salt

My plan had been to put a summary of my journal weeks on here before I started journaling on a daily basis, but I could not wait to show this:

I have been aware of Himalayan salt for awhile, but had always heard it was expensive and the way I use salt, I didn't think it was a wise buy for me. Yesterday my sister surprised me with this. To understand how I feel about salt, let me just say this. I am a teacher. Teachers attend a ridiculous number of professional developments. At professional development you have to play silly games and do ice breakers. At least once a year I have to answer the question, "Besides your family, food and water, what is the one thing you cannot live without?" Me, "Salt!" No hesitation.Anyone who knows me knows how very much pink is my favorite color. So when they begin marketing pink salt and I actually get some, well let's just say life will never be the same. And yes, that is one of the pillows on my bed. I wanted it to feel welcome it's first night.

Week 2

*Recipes Below

Day 1

Breakfast

½ grapefruit

Grilled thin sliced beef steak seasoned

Boiled egg

Coffee

Lunch

Vegetable beef soup*

Water

Dinner

Dilled  Salmon

Baked Brussell Sprouts*

Green Salad w/zesty dressing*

Water

Day 2

Breakfast

½ grapefruit

2 cups watermelon

¼ cup blueberries

Coffee

Lunch

Tuna w/mayo, green olives, green onions, boiled eggs and served over a bed of lettuce

Cucumber slices w/chili lime dip*

Water

Dinner

Paprika Pork Chops*

Steamed veggies

Salad with Zesty Dressing*

Water

Day 3

Breakfast

2 egg omelet

½ grapefruit

Coffee

Lunch

Left over pork chop

Cucumbers with dill dip (add dill weed to mayo)

Water

Dinner

Baked shrimp*

Spaghetti squash

Steamed zucchini

Water

Day 4

Breakfast

Boiled egg

½ grapefruit

Watermelon

Coffee

Lunch

Shrimp Salad*

Water

Dinner

Taco Salad* with Zesty dressing

Fruit

Water

Day 5

Breakfast

Sunbutter

Apple Slices

Coffee

Lunch

Taco Salad

½ grapefruit

Water

Dinner

Curry Chicken

Salad w/dressing 101

Water

Day 6

Breakfast

2 egg omelet w/grilled steak

½ grapefruit

Coffee

Lunch

Boiled Shrimp

Sautéed Cabbage

Water

Dinner

Talapia seasoned with lemon pepper and baked with lemon slices

Grilled asparagus

Fruit salad

Water

Day 7

Breakfast

Boiled egg

Large fruit salad

Coffee

Lunch

Seasoned roast beef

Small baked potato w/clarified butter

Green salad

Water

Dinner

Roast Beef Rollups

Sweet potato fries

Water

Snacks

Herbal Tea (seems to take care of my late night cravings)

Fruit

Veggies and either Chili Lime Dip or Dill Dip

Dill Encrusted Salmon: Put 1T of dill weed in 1/2 cup of mayo. Put in fridge for 20 minutes. While dill is in fridge, remove salmon steak (enough to serve 2) from fridge. Place fish on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Cover fish with 1 -2 T lemon juice and let sit outside of fridge (meat should begin to whiten). Remove dill mayo from fridge and cover fish as completely as possible. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Dill Salmon with dilled sugar snap peas and baked okra

Baked Brussels Sprouts: Wash and remove outer leaves. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil. Place sprouts on cookie sheet and spray with olive oil. Salt. Bake until bottoms start to brown. Turn over and continue cooking another 10 minutes. Serve with clarified butter.

Chili Lime Dip

Add chili powder and fresh or bottled lime juice to Whole30 mayo. Best if made a hour before eating.

Paprika Pork Chops: Mix together 1 teaspoon or garlic salt, onion powder and paprika. Rub over pork chops. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and bake until done.

Zesty Salad Dressing: addi 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, onion powder, dill and cilantro (the one found with spices, not fresh) ¼ teaspoon of jalapeno sauce (found beside the Tabassco sauce), ½ - 1 teaspoon of lime juice to ½ cup of mayo. Adjust to taste. I add enough water to make it pourable.

Baked Shrimp: Melt 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in baking dish. Add one bunch of green onions sliced. Place shrimp in pan and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake until done.

Shrimp Salad: Boil ½ pound of shrimp. Cool. Boil two eggs. Chop. Put eggs and shrimp in bowl and add 2 stalks of celery chopped, 1 bunch of green onions sliced thin. The tops of one of the onions chopped. Add enough mayo to moisten. Chill for about an hour so flavors can marry.

Taco Salad: Place ½ chopped onion and  1 ½ teaspoons of cumin seeds in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until onion starts to brown. Add beef and cook till done. Drain any grease. Add 1 – 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tablespoon paprika. 1 teaspoon garlic salt and ½ cup water. Simmer till water evaporates. Serve over chopped lettuce with the salad dressing at top.

Taco Salad w/salsa and Zesty Salad Dressing

Curry Chicken: Brown chicken in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Remove chicken and add 2 teaspoons of curry powder to oil. Mix well. Add ½ can of coconut milk and ¼ cup of lime juice, ¼ cup water. Mix well. Return chicken to pot. Simmer until chicken is almost done. Add ¼ fresh chopped cilantro. Continue cooking. Good alone or served over raw cauliflower that has been riced (chopped until it is about the size of rice grains) in a blender. I love Thai and Indian food, so this is my favorite.  You can substitute shrimp for the chicken.

Vegetable Beef Soup: Sautee stew meat in small amount of olive oil. Add two cans of organic- roasted tomatoes, one large onion cut, 3 sliced carrots, 2 stalks of celery chopped to meat add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for about 1/2 an hour. Add 2 potatoes (I use russet) diced large. Continue simmering until potatoes are done. I add hot sauce (Cholula, Tabassco...).

Seeing Results Already January 12

January 12

After week one I discovered several things about myself and the diet. I discovered that I almost always eat leftovers for lunch which is not necessarily a bad thing, just something I had not noticed before. I discovered that even though I don't usually eat much in the way of salad dressing or mayo, I now really needed both. My go to dressing 101 was not working for me either. So I made my first attempt at making mayo. I used the recipe on the Whole30® and ended up throwing the disgusting mess down the drain. My daughter suggested that I take a look at the recipe on theclothesmakethegirl.com which I did. Major success. Suddenly, I could see myself doing all kinds of exciting things with it. It really saved me. My only worry was whether the amount I could see myself using would be counter productive.

Now I know that as I wrote this I had only been on the diet for 8 days, so to expect to start seeing results was far fetched, but on Monday morning as I was dressing, I did see results. Despite the fact that in the past I have been able to lose considerable weight albeit lasting only a short while, my stomach always remained bloated. At age 48 when I weighed 140 (I am 5'8") a student asked me if I was pregnant. This morning I looked at myself in the mirror and was shocked at how much my stomach had gone down! I may not be loving the food yet, but I am loving the early results.

On the subject of snacks, I do not just eat a snack after dinner. The snacks are included throughout the day.

Week 1

*recipe below

Day 1

Breakfast

½ grapefruit

Blueberries

Boiled egg

Coffee

Lunch

Lemon Pepper Chicken*

Steamed Yellow Squash with clarified butter

Water

Dinner

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Boiled turnips with clarified butter

Baked cabbage*

Water

Snack

Cup of herbal tea

Fruit

Day 2

Breakfast

½ grapefruit

½ cantaloupe

¼ cup blueberries

Coffee

Lunch

Baked sweet potato w/ clarified butter

Cucumber slices

Water

Dinner

Chicken Rosemary*

Baked okra*

Salad with Dressing 101*

Water

Snack

Herbal tea

Fruit

Day 3

Breakfast

2 egg omelet*

½ grapefruit

Coffee

Lunch

Chicken Rosemary Shred*
Cucumber

Water

Dinner

Spaghetti Sauce*

Spaghetti squash

Salad w/ dressing 101

Water

Snack

Herbal tea

Fruit

Day 4

Breakfast

Boiled egg

½ grapefruit

Watermelon

Coffee

Lunch

Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti squash

Cucumber

Water

Dinner

Cashew Chicken*

Fruit Salad

Water

Snack

Herbal tea

Fruit

Day 5

Breakfast

Sunbutter

Apple Slices

Coffee

Lunch

Cashew Chicken

½ grapefruit

Water

Dinner

Hamburger Steak*

Baked Brussel sprouts

Salad w/dressing 101

Water

Snack

Herbal tea

Fruit

Day 6

Breakfast

2 egg omelet

½ grapefruit

Blueberries

Coffee

Lunch

Boiled Shrimp

Sautéed Cabbage

Green Salad w/dressing 101

Water

Dinner

Shrimp Scampette*

Grilled asparagus

Fruit salad

Water

Snack

Herbal tea

Fruit

Day 7

Breakfast

Large fruit salad w/coconut milk

Coffee

Lunch

Seasoned roast beef

Small baked potato w/clarified butter

Green salad

Water

Dinner

Roast Beef Rollups*

Sweet potato fries

Water

Snack

Herbal Tea

Fruit

RECIPES

You will quickly figure out that I am not a chef 

Lemon Chicken

Add 3 tablespoons of clarified butter to non-stick skillet. Season boneless chicken breasts with lemon pepper. Brown chicken in skillet. Remove chicken from skillet and place in baking dish. Pour any juices from the skillet over the chicken. Thinly slice a lemon and place slices on the chicken. Cover and bake at 400 for about 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Baked Cabbage

Slice a head of cabbage starting from the side opposite the stem in 1/2 slices. Place each piece on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Drizzle with butter or olive oil. Sprinkle a tablespoon of caraway seeds over the cabbage. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 375 until edges of cabbage begin to brown.

Rosemary Chicken:

 Saute one clove garlic minced and 1 tablespoon of rosemary in 2 tablespoons of clarified butter. Add chicken breasts and brown. Remove chicken to baking dish. Pour the drippings from the skillet over the chicken. Bake until done.

Rosemary Chicken, Baked Cabbage, Roasted head of garlic

Baked Okra

Completely thaw a bag of cut okra. Toss okra with olive oil. Place in a 375 degree oven on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Stir occasionally while okra browns to your taste.

Dressing 101

This is not exactly Whole30® approved, but it's very close. I got this recipe from the Marilu Henner diet book.
Add equal parts of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and brown mustard. Mix well and chill.

2 Egg Omelet
This can be done in a skillet, omelet pan or in a Belgium waffle maker. It is a basic omelet made with pasteurized eggs. I add grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms and sometimes spinach to mine. You can add any approved veggies to yours. If making in the waffle maker, I pour in the eggs, immediately add the veggies, close the lid and cook until it stops steaming. Remove and fold. I top mine with homemade salsa. 

Salsa
1 can of fire roasted organic tomatoes (can use any type)
1/4 small onion
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 -2 jalapeños

 2 cloves garlic minced 

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Place everything in a blender until chopped.Will keep in fridge for a couple of weeks.

Chicken Rosemary Shred

Shred leftover Chicken Rosemary. Mix with cauliflower rice. Add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter and mix. Add in any other chopped veggies desired. (I add onion and mushrooms). Mix. Microwave just until warm.

Spaghetti Sauce

Brown ground beef. Add 2 cans of diced roasted tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tablespoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, ¼ teaspoon fennel, simmer 30 minutes. Serve over spaghetti squash. Cook spaghetti squash by cutting it in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet, poke several holes with a fork. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and use a fork to scoop out squash. It will look like spaghetti.

Spaghetti and Spaghetti Squash

Cashew Chicken

 In a large skillet or wok saute, 2 - 3 chicken breasts that have been cubed, in small amount of coconut oil, add ½ can coconut milk,  ½ - 1 head of cabbage chopped in about 1 inch square pieces,  chopped onion  (not too small), ½ cup of cashews, 1 cup sliced mushrooms and simmer until chicken is done. Season with coconut amino (it’s kinda like soy sauce).

Cashew Chicken and Cucumbers w/Chili Lime Dip

Hamburger Steak

Saute sliced onion, sliced mushrooms and 2 cloves of garlic minced in 2 tablespoons of clarified butter. Shape ground beef into patties and place in baking dish. Top with onion mushroom mix. Bake.

Shrimp Scampette

Melt 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in baking dish. Add one bunch of green onions sliced. Place shrimp in pan and sprinkle with garlic salt and red pepper flakes to taste. Bake until done.

Shrimp Scampette with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus

Roast Roll-Up

Shred leftover roast. Slice one large onion. Mince one clove of garlic. Heat ingredients in a warm skillet until onion is clear. Place a large spoonful of roast mixture on lettuce leaf (Boston is best, I think, but any will do) and roll.

Day 1 January 5th

January 5

Guess I have lost my mind. Today I was starting my first Whole30®. I had every intention of starting it. However, I did nothing to prepare for it. I guess I thought I would just wake up and everything I would need would have magically appeared in my pantry and fridge.Well that didn't happen but......I did discover that I had enough things that are The Whole30® approved to make it through the day. I always make a batch of soup on the weekend and I freeze a couple of bowls for emergencies, like when I am just too tired to cook. I always have eggs on hand. I usually have a batch of homemade salsa. I always have pickles. So for breakfast I fixed 2 scrambled eggs with salsa and a cup of coffee and then it hit me. I DO NOT drink black coffee. I can't imagine why anyone would. But, I needed coffee. I couldn't even conceive of going a day without it. Wasn't it enough that I was saying goodbye to cokes? So I made a compromise with myself. Instead of the usual 3 tablespoons of powdered creamer I would only use one. Instead of the usual 1 tablespoon of sugar, I would use 1/2. The plan was to gradually learn to drink it black. So I wasn't exactly doing it The Whole30® way, but I was heavily influenced by it. For lunch I took a bowl of vegetable soup from the freezer and a cucumber. I love, love, love drinking water, so my fridge at school stays stocked with water, sparkling and plain. I made it through to the end of the day and headed to the grocery store. Tonight's dinner would be done right and I would buy food for the rest of the week. I am good with chicken. Can in fact cook it about a million different ways that The Whole30® would approve of, so I bought a lot of chicken (cage-free), pasteurized eggs, veggies, fruit (which I figured would go bad because I don’t like fruit) and some ground grass-fed beef. Many $$ later I was at home starting to prepare to do it right.

The Journey Begins

I am not a diet or nutrition expert. I am certainly not a doctor. I am just a 60 year old lady who has turned her physical and emotional life around due to The Whole30® Program. I decided to put parts of my personal journal into this blog because I was finding that more and more people were asking me, "How did you do it? Lose all that weight," and they really wanted to know, so here is the answer to how "I did it," complete with my non-professional menus and recipes.

I have two regrets as I begin this blog. The first one is that I did not measure or take pictures before my journey began. The best I can do is a three year old picture,

but it is fairly representative of how I have looked for the past three years. The second one is that I began my journaling in a journal instead of online. I wanted to transfer my journals with the original dates, but having just realized how many entries there are and how long that would take, I will give a weekly synopsis until I get caught up. So here goes...

Shortly after Christmas my daughter Elyse announced that she would be starting a Whole30 eating lifestyle and invited me and her sister to join her. She also said that she was going to begin a running regimen. I am not and never have been a runner, so that part was of no interest to me. As far as the diet goes, I think it looks too restrictive, expensive and requires too much prep time. As January 1st arrived and she began her new lifestyle, I looked into some past diets that I had tried and I've tried a lot. I began a pro/con list.

Atkins

Pros                                Cons
 Meat                                Limited food list
Cheese                             High in fat
Quick results                    Not lasting results
                                        Not a lifestyle change

Subway

Pros                              Cons

No prep                         No variety
Cheap                            Not a lifestyle change


Weight Watchers

Pros                               Cons

Large variety                   Measuring and weighing
Lifestyle change              Measuring and weighing
                                      Prep work

Marilu Henner Total Health Makeover (Macrobiotic)

Pros                              Cons

Lifestyle change              EXPENSIVE
Large variety                  Prep time
                                     No  caffeine

The Mayor's Diet

Pros                              Cons

No prep                        Not a lifestyle change
Cheap                           Preservative filled

Calorie Counting

Pros                               Cons

Large variety                   Measuring and weighing
Semi-lifestyle change       Measuring and weighing

Whole30

Pros                                Cons

Large variety                   Prep time
Lifestyle change               Can be costly

Caffeine                           

I tried to convince myself that I would be better off going back to one of the previously tried diets, no new rules to learn. In the end though I had to admit that although I had  been successful at losing weight in the past, nothing stuck, the weight returned and I lived for the day that I could go back to eating the foods I loved, always promising myself that as soon as I saw a five pound gain I would go back on the diet. I never did. So I have decided to give Whole30 a try. January 5th I weigh 184.