Here I am..... another day in! Yay Me!!
Today has been a great day! I was up (before the baby) and got to lay in bed peacefully for a while. It was nice. The family got up, we had some breakfast and off I went to Crossfit.
Crossfit.... I still love it! I love the intensity of the lifting, the variety of exercises, the opportunity to be competitive, and how supportive everyone is. I am still struggling with finding the right weights for myself. I always underestimate my strength. I do however thing this is better than thinking i can lift 8 million pounds and not making it through the workout. I have decided I need to jump in the notebook wagon and start writing down my workouts and how much I am lifting.
Today we went to the farmers market and stocked up on some fresh veggies! Yellow carrots, kale, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, onions, apples, pears, and of course some beets!
What Did I Eat Today?
Breakfast - coffee and bacon (2 pieces)
Lunch - A monster scramble - leftover chicken/salsa/banana pepper, with a few sun-dried tomatoes
Dinner - roasted veggies, avocado and sausage (not ideal, but the natural ones ;) and I love sausage)
Snacks - carrots, almonds
Treats - a few squares of dark chocolate and some red wine
What Was Challenging Today?
One challenge is still not sampling the babies food. I think it is more habit than an actual desire to eat the stuff. When she feeds me I just let her put it in my mouth and secretly spit it out. I thing the biggest challenge today is snacks. I love to snack. When Avery snacks, I snack. I like her BBQ explosion goldfish crackers. I haven't found a lot of snack foods that are quick and easy, other than nuts. I dont even really like almonds ( I can't stand the texture), but they are crunchy, so they fulfill that sensory input I seek in snack foods.
How Do I Feel?
Pretty Good!!! I has some serious yawns this morning before my workout, but the rest of the day has been great. I worked out, we walked to the farmers market, we ran a bunch of errands, came home I cleaned a little and cooked. Its been a busy day, but I did not feel done and the end of it!
What I Tried New Today?
Today I made Kale chips and "Eat By Design" Cranberry Sauce.
Both turned out pretty well. I'll Try to take some pictures and do a recipe blog :-)
The Cranberry Sauce http://www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-Family-Wellness-Centre/86951123061?fref=ts
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend.... wish me luck with all the pumpkin pie and stuffing temptations!!!
JoJo!!
Wooooo!! I made it through another day!! (with the assistance of a glass of wine - and yes it is red)
Well yesterday I survived making the cupcakes, today was the "farewell" to our co-worker who is going on maternity leave. Not only was there cupcakes (my favorite ones), but there was cookies, and bars, and chips, and hummus..... all things once delicious! The good news? I did not eat any of it, and someone thoughtful brought fruit and veggies, so even I got a treat too! I really would have loved to have eaten a cupcake, especially when everyone was telling me how delicious they were, but I can't break down this early in the challenge!!
What Did I Eat?
Breakfast - salsa, banana pepper, and egg scramble, bacon, coffee
lunch - sweet potato and cauliflower soup
dinner - rotisserie chicken, roasted vegetables and beets
snacks - almonds, carrots, fruit
treats - red wine
My Biggest Challenge of the day?
Surprisingly it is not saying no to the cakes and treats. It is the same as yesterday. Not sampling food. I never eat what I cook for my husband and daughter, but I always taste it. I am stopping myself as it goes into my mouth.... it will get easier. I think it is more habit than a desire to eat the food.
How Do I feel?
I managed to wake up early and get ready for work. I was on a role! Then, just before lunch, I got the most horrific stomach cramps. I went to the bathroom and all I will tell you is I was not happy. I was sweating, I felt light headed, I was shaking, it felt like I had the stomach flu. After about 10 minutes I felt fine. Strangest thing, so I ate my lunch and went on with my work day.
My original intention for the evening was to go to Crossfit, but when I got home from work I was just exhausted. I rested for about 30 min, made dinner and settled with a glass of wine instead. Not ideal, but it is life. I am still adjusting to working full time, juggling my home life and my exercise. I need to find a balance, but hopefully on this journey I get closer to finding that balance.
Only 28 Days to go!!
JoJo!!
Well.... I survived!!
hahahaha only 29 days to go!!
Eating the right things is the easy part, its knowing that I cannot eat the bad things that is the challenging part. I haven't been eating most of the "not by design" food all week, but it was not until the rule "that i can't eat those foods" was put in place that I actually wanted them.
I started day one out with a trip to Synergy Family Wellness Center at 6:50 AM!!! BIG NEWS!! I made and ate breakfast before I went!!!! For those of you who know me this is VERY VERY early for me to be functioning, as well as out and about. YIKES!
Why the heck am I going to the chiropractor at 6:50 in the morning??
They offered a special at the seminar for individuals to go and have a complete assessment of their nervous system done. I always like a good deal so when they said it was only $20 I couldn't turn it down! If I am going to eat by design, I may as well look into the rest of their philosophy over the next 30 days and see if it is a good fit for me. SIDE NOTE: the $20 I paid for my assessment is being donated to the St Albert Food Bank.... great cause!
I am attending a seminar (with my husband) next Wednesday so he can better understand what I am doing. Love that they are including my family in the process!
So what did I eat today?
Breakfast: coffee, salsa and egg scramble
Lunch: homemade sweet potato and cauliflower soup, almonds
Dinner: chicken, banana peppers and mushrooms with roasted veggies
My Biggest Challenge of the Day?
I am making chocolate cupcakes (my favorite double chocolate pound cake recipe) with chocolate butter cream for a baby shower at work tomorrow... do you have any idea how difficulty it is to not lick your fingers?!?!?!
How Am I feeling?
Well, I am pretty sure I saw red wine on the shopping list, so I am having a glass of that. Its been a long busy day, and I can't eat cake.... other than that, I feel almost like I do any other day. Only today, I feel just a little bit better because I made it through day 1!!
Throughout this challenge you will hear me talking about Eat by Design, Move By Design, Think By Design. If you have questions, I can try to answer, or you can go to the source that is providing me with all of my information http://synergyfamilywellnesscentre.com/ (you will probably hear me talking a lot about them too) you can also follow the challenge via their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-Family-Wellness-Centre/86951123061
Until Tomorrow!!
JoJo!!
JUST JOKING!!!
I did think about ordering a pizza when I got home from Crossfit though. LOL (but for the record I didnt)
Tomorrow starts my 30 day Eat By Design challenge. I will be surviving on protein, veggies, fruit, and nuts. No bread, cheese, hummus, and most importantly, none of my lovely cakes and absolutely delicious baking experiments!! YIKES!! What have I gotten myself into?!?!
I tell myself it is only 30 days. I can do anything for 30 days. If I can soup diet for 30 days, I can do this for 30 days.... easy peasy!! This is so much less restrictive than the crazy soup diet!
You may be asking if the whole family is joining me on this journey, and the answer is no. I will be more conscious of what I am making them, and cut back a little on pasta and rice etc., but I wont be taking it away from them. Whether or not my family tries this "lifestyle" change depends on how I feel when I am done my 30 days. (so stay tuned)
What I think will be easy for me over the next 30 days:
- Eating lots of veggies - I already do this!
- trying out new recipes and being creative ( I will try to blog all the recipes I try)
What I think will be challenging for me over the next 30 days:
- not having my fat free french vanilla coffee mate in my coffee
- not eating hummus - i love the stuff on raw veggies
- not sampling things if I bake, or things I cook for the family (you know, eating a piece of pasta to make sure its cooked)
- not eating the babies food as she is shoving it in my mouth (LOL)
- being prepared so there is always something i can eat in the house (that is not too much work)
How do you think I am going to do?!?!?!
Wish me luck!!
JoJo!!
My first "Eat By Design" recipe experiment!!
As always cooking vegetables for my family is a questionable adventure, but surprisingly this was a huge success. Avery loved the squash. She ate it for dinner yesterday and today! My hubby sampled it and said "I could eat this."
The beautiful thing about spaghetti squash is it doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own, so it really takes well to sauces. The texture is nice too! Crunchy, but not hard or grainy. I LOVED it!!
Here is what I made for dinner ( I combined a variety of recipes/stuff)
The Squash
Cut the spaghetti squash in 1/2 and spoon out all the yucky stuff
Give the belly a good rub in some olive oil
Sprinkle with seasoning (i used my garlic seasoning since we were doing "italian", but next time I think we will go Cajun)
Bake face down for 40 min at 400F
Turn over and grill/broil for 5 or so min to crispy (optional)
When cooked take a fork and scrape out the squash ... it comes out looking like spaghetti!!
The Sauce
2 cans of tomato paste (you could make your own paste, but I am lazy)
Lots of diced tomatoes (i used about 6 romas - but i had some leftover canned tomatoes in olive oil so i used them up too)
Fresh Basil
Turkey meatballs (homemade)
Garlic sausage
Shrimp
Mushrooms ( sauteed the musrooms, sausage, shrimp, and some basil with garlic before adding to the sauce)
Heat tomato paste and tomatoes to cook the tomatoes down a little.
Add all the other good stuff and simmer
Turkey Meatballs
Ground Turkey
Garlic Seasoning
Mix it all up and form into meatballs
heat up some olive oil and cook them in a skillet
I thought all of this was absolutely easy and delicious!!!!!
I hope you give it a try and enjoy it too!
Happy Cooking!!
JoJo!!
Today Deanne and I attended a seminar "Eat By Design" After attending this seminar we have both signed up to participate in the Eat By Design 30 Day Challenge!
What the heck does this mean??
Eat by design is a part of the Live by Design life style. It combines eating well (by design), Move by Design (exercising), think by design (having a positive outlook). This concept, way of life, was created by a chiropractor, so ongoing chiropractic care to ensure your nervous system is in tact is also recommended.
Apparently this lifestyle combination is very popular with Crossfitters. Which is how I found out about it. So they have me sold on the exercise by design, and I am working on testing out the eating by design.
"Eat By Design is not a diet. it is an approach to fulling one of the basic essentials to health. Quality nutritional building blocks."
I think the premise behind the diet is that our body cannot breakdown and utilize grains. This includes wheat, barley, rice, and legumes. In our bodies efforts to breakdown these components it stresses itself, begins to breakdown, and toxins are thus released into our bloodstream. These toxins effect people in different ways. Some individuals are plagued with things as serious as autoimmune disease, to celiac disease. Others just experience gluten intolerance or leaky gut syndrome. Some people just feel tired, lethargic, or depressed.
I dont remember all the scientific mumbo-jumbo, but with any diet trying to convince you their way is best, they had a lot of strong evidence to support themselves. It made sense, so I figure I should at least give it a try and see how I feel. It's only 30 days so I know it wont kill me ;)
So what can I eat?
- PROTEIN - beef, pork, turkey, fish, eggs, and chicken
- VEGETABLES - limit starchy veggies like potatoes, they are best 30 min after a workout. Like most diets the more color and variety the better.
- FRUIT - if you want to lose weight, then limit your fruit intake, it does contain sugar, otherwise enjoy a piece or two a day
- NUTS - great source of protein and healthy fats (peanuts are not nuts)
- FAT - coconut oil, olive oil are great sources
- DAIRY - limit your intake, and stick to full fat dairy and hard cheeses
- EXTRAS - herbs/spices, salt, hot sauce, salsa, red wine/balsamic vinegar, pesto and red wine (my favorite part)
There is a lot of variety that you can eat with meat and vegetables. You can eat BACON, BACON, BACON!! Curry is still a great easy option, coconut milk is ok. The combinations are endless, it is just time to get creative!
I am not saying this is going to be easy, it is going to be anything but!!!! On that note, I will give it my best shot and share yet another journey with you... so stay tuned. It officially starys October 4, but I am getting myself "in the zone" and weening out some of those undesirable foods!
Happy Eating!!
JoJo!!
