Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Wed ....

How about that for a blog post title......ha!
 
There's no denying how much I love flowers
they just make me smile
and I've been so committed to the Whole30 eating
that I treated myself to a bouquet of beautiful flowers
and I love the greenery as much as the flowers!
 

 
later.....
 
 


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Clean eating ... day 14

I haven't posted daily updates because mostly, they are the same
I don't stray much from what I eat
I have my 2 boiled eggs and a bowl of watermelon every morning
unless I'm home, then I may make an omelet
and Lord help me when watermelon is out of season!

my lunch varies and depends on either what I have leftover from dinner
or what I was organized enough to cook in advance
if neither, I make a salad from the work salad bar making sure
that I add a protein. I love banana peppers on my salad and thought
I was pretty safe eating them. That is until I picked up a jar at
home and read the ingredients.......good grief! Why do they have to put
so much nasty stuff in just some pickled peppers!!

dinner is always good......it's either chicken, beef or seafood
and I'm learning so many different ways to cook things that
are just so much healthier. And usually 2 veggies with dinner

my update.......I wonder why this isn't more popular. And I wonder why no one told me about this years ago. Benefits.......the weight is just
falling off, the inches are melting away....my clothes are so loose
on me now that I'll def need a new wardrobe come fall
But the best thing .... I haven't felt this good
in probably 20 years. I never feel like I'm starving.... I eat 3 meals
because that's what you are supposed to do. Food taste so much better.
I feel satisfied after I eat, never feel stuffed and never feel bloated.
this is def the way you should eat.
Even after the 30 days are over, I will continue but I will
add a few things back into my diet after this.

that's it for now, I'll do some more updates at another time

later.......

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Canning ...

On Saturday I did my annual tomato canning
One of my friends from work, Melissa, wanted to learn how
to can so she came over.
And my friend Cheryl, who already knows how to can
came over to just hang out with us!
 
So we had a good time
and now I have 18 quarts of yummy tomatoes canned
for this winter....this is from one bushel
last year I was able to get 22 quarts out of one bushel
Melissa did a 1/2 bushel and has 9 quarts
 
I might do some more again if I have time.
I know it's a time consuming thing to do but for some
reason, I just really love it!
 

 
I take everything off of my kitchen counters because I like
to have plenty of room and have an assembly line


 
later.........


Monday, July 22, 2013

Clean eating ... 12 days in.....

And all is going great!
 
My friend Lena has now started her Whole30 and gave me this
little recipe she did today.......
chop up fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic
drizzle with olive oil and let sit to marinate the flavors
 
I fixed some tilapia like my friend Cheryl showed me
lay the fillet in aluminum foil, drizzle some olive oil
and then put whatever seasoning you like
Put in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes
I put Italian seasoning on them Sunday evening
and then we put the tomato mixture on top once out of the oven
oh my.....so good
and I meant to take a picture before I started eating...whoops!
 

 
later.....


Sunday, July 21, 2013

Clean eating ....

you might be getting bored with my clean eating post
but I'm def not getting bored with my meals
 
For lunch today I had some leftover chicken breast so
shredded it up, added some salsa and chopped
black olives...yumm
 
Also made the sweet potato things I've been seeing on a lot
of the clean eating sites
 
shredded sweet potatoes, egg whites and cinnamon
 
I put some coconut oil in my cast iron skillet
just make little patties, then smash them down a little
once you drop them in the pan
 
omg.......loved them!!
 
carbonated water from my sodastream with some
fresh lemons and limes
very good lunch!
 


 
later.....


Saturday, July 20, 2013

Clean eating, exercise and an update ....

It's pretty hot around here in Virginia.
the temps in the 90's but the humidity is awful.
First, we had tons of rain, all of the time
now we have the heat and humidity
which means we have lots of mosquitoes
So needless to say, we are not enjoying the outdoors very much
 
I stayed in all day today canning tomatoes with 2 of
my friends from work, Melissa and Cheryl.
we had a good time, lots of chatting and laughing
 
And because we're all doing the clean eating, lunch was clean!! 
I had fixed squash with onions the night before
Cheryl brought tilapia and seasoned it so perfect
we also had cut up tomatoes and a bowl of grapes and blueberries
a perfect lunch
 
I am finding out a few things about clean eating......you aren't hungry
very much but you have to eat your 3 meals a day regardless.
And each meal has to include a protein
I feel like I eat more now than when I was trying to lose weight
and I'm losing more weight now....isn't that ironic. It really is about
eating the right foods.
 
I haven't been posting the past few days because they would just look the same each day. I really do eat
a lot of the same things .... but I'm ok with that
For each meal I have either chicken, beef, fish or eggs
I always have one or two veggies. Some meals I might
include a fruit, like with breakfast and I usually have something
like a few cherries or watermelon at night.
I love making omelets and just coming up with different ways to season
my meats. And I've gotten to where I love roasting all veggies!
 
And I'm dropping a lot of weight. It just amazes me. I feel fantastic and
have great stamina when I work out at Jazzercise. My clothes are not
fitting anymore....so that is great except at this rate, I'm going to need
lots of new clothes for winter.
I feel really good about this way of eating and I'm almost sure
that I won't go back to the old way.
Now the best part will be when I have my physical at t he end of August
and have really good numbers on all of my labs, then I know
I won't go back to the old way of eating!
 
I have lots of recipes that I want to try out but have really
just been so busy I haven't tried them out yet!
 
later.....
 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Chalkboard ...

A few years ago I used to scrapbook
I loved it and it was a great way to be creative but I found I was
just getting too busy for it so gave it up. When I was scrapbooking, I used to take each month's family calendar, you know the one....on the frig with
all of the appts and events for everyone......I would always include that
in my scrapbook. It's a memory, a memory that one day someone might
love to see.

Now since I have given it up, I use my chalkboard in the kitchen to
highlight events for the month. I don't put everything that is on the frig calendar...like dr appts but include
parties and birthdays. And as I receive pictures or thank you cards
in the mail, I tape them up on the chalkboard. Then before I erase
I take a picture of it.....because maybe one day, it will be of interest
to someone in our family. And it's fun coming up with something
on each board!

here are my June and July boards..


 
later........
 



Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Clean eating ... day 8

I guess I should be posting some other stuff too
so here goes......
 
  • Declan is just over 4 months old now and about the sweetest baby ever. He's also getting ready to cut his first tooth
  • We are going to have another GRANDCHILD!! Our oldest daughter and her boyfriend are expecting a baby in January and we are thrilled. I am loving racking up grandchildren. And this is cool because he/she will be close in age to Declan so he'll have a cousin closer to his age!
  • It's July and I haven't been to the beach yet .... I know, hard to believe!! This summer has been very busy!
  • and speaking of summer....woo wee, the heat has arrived!!
  • Jake is doing great with his job up in Charlottesville and he comes home right often so I love that.
and that's about it for now
 
this morning, you know it.......2 cups of black coffee
2 boiled eggs, some watermelon and blueberries
 
for lunch I had a big ole salad that was yummy and
actually filled me up before it was finished.
that's the thing about this Whole30, you start filling up fast
and you just don't ever really feel that hungry.
 
Dinner was sweet potato, roasted brussel sprouts and broccoli
with some cherry tomatoes.
I also cut up another watermelon so was taking quite a few bites
while doing that!
 
 
still feeling great and loving this new way of eating.
 
later.....


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Clean eating ... day 7

wow...it's been a week!
and I say that because in just a week, I have seen so many changes
the biggest change is I'm not feeling so stiff in my hands in the morning
from my arthritis. That's huge.....
other changes, my hair is really soft, as is my skin
I'm sleeping good and having NO hot flashes at night.
still a few during the day but NONE at night!! That is amazing to me.
 
Also, after a meal, you just don't have that bloated feeling.
you feel satisfied but not stuffed....that is a really good feeling!
 
My only concern is the amount of eggs I'm eating. I sure as heck
hope it's not affecting my cholesterol. My physical is the end of August
so I'll find out then. And I have low iron so not sure I'm getting enough
of that but I do take an iron supplement so hopefully, that will be ok.
 
but enough of that....on to the eating. It's been surprising to me how good
everything is. You think things are good with lots of butter or loaded with cheese but really, food is good without all of the stuff.
 
So today was a huge EGG day!! haha
I had 2 cups of black coffee, 2 boiled eggs and watermelon
for my breakfast.
 
For lunch I had the leftover chicken from dinner last night
and a bowl of cherry tomatoes and cut up celery. I also had a small
bowl of "clean eating" soup that my friend made and it was
very yummy! Definitely know what I'll be making for this winter.
 
Now here's where the too many eggs comes in....I really, really
wanted an omelet for dinner. So I used coconut oil in the omelet
pan, added the eggs and then added drained salsa and chopped
black olives. This was so delicious!!
But I think I may need to lay low on the eggs tomorrow!
 
 
so there you go .... it's been a week and I'm loving it.
the food is good and I feel great. The only thing I noticed today
was my stamina has been great but tonight at Jazzercise, my legs gave
out of stamina! haha....but let's just chalk that up to a really
hard workout :)
 
later.....


Monday, July 15, 2013

Clean eating ... day 6

doing good on day 6
 
of course, 2 cups of black coffee
2 eggs and some watermelon
 
lunch was a big salad but I had not fixed any meat to go on it
and the chicken on the salad bar at work just kind of grosses
me out. So I put one boiled egg on my salad for my protein.
 
And supper......mmmm, supper was yummy
I put chicken in the crock pot this morning with the
homemade taco seasoning on it
 
After Jazzercise I shredded up the chicken, put the Trader Joes
salsa on top and then added sliced avocado
really, really good
and I had some leftover roasted carrots
 
 
later......


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Clean eating ... day 5

sigh....I'm such a creature of habit
 
2 cups of black coffee
2 boiled eggs with a white peach and some tomatoes!
haha......I thought the weekend would come and I would make
myself an omelet but really, I just love boiled eggs.
maybe next weekend :)
 
 
for lunch I roasted up some veggies ... broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.
so good
 

 
and for something sweet, cherries!!
they are everywhere for 7.99 lb but Trader Joes had
then for 4.99 lb...yay!!
 

 
dinner is going to be all leftover veggies...and some of the leftover
beef. I'll cook chicken tonight for my lunch and dinner tomorrow
 
still feeling great.......you're not supposed to weigh yourself during
the 30 days but I do. There's no way I'm letting my "no smoking" weight
creep back up on me again. But I'm not going to share my weight loss
yet......will wait until the end of the 30 days. But I will say this....I'm
pretty dang happy!!
 
later...


Saturday, July 13, 2013

Clean eating ... day 4

So breakfast was different this day because I was trying
to get out of the house to run errands
so didn't really have time to fix anything
I had 2 cups of black coffee and a banana!!
 
But lunch sure was good
I went to Trader Joes while running errands and that turns out
to be a great place to shop while trying to do this clean eating.
 
I cooked zucchini and onions
then threw a grain fed hamburger in the pan with a little
bit of coconut oil
then topped it with some salsa that I bought at Trader Joes
yummmmm


for dinner I did a Martha Stewart recipe and it did not turn out
at all. It was spaghetti squash with lemon and parsley flavored shrimp.
 
the squash was good and the shrimp was good but
not combined.
 

 
Trader Joes had a good price on cherries so I had those
after I had my dinner.
 
another successful day and I'm really feeling good
later........
 
 


Clean eating ... day 3

I'm sure you can guess my breakfast......
2 cups of black coffee
2 boiled eggs
bowl of watermelon!!

I know most people would get tired of the same thing but I have
always been a creature of habit with my eating. Before this clean eating, I
had a bowl of grits every single work morning, with 3 tabs of butter
and then fruit salad. Sometimes, I would get an omelet.


But lunch was different....taco salad!! and it was yum!
I cooked the meat the  night before and brought to work meat, black olives,
avocado, tomatoes. So then at work from the salad bar all I had to buy was the lettuce and banana peppers.
and it was yum......yes, it would have been better with cheese all over but it would not have been better for me so I'm ok with that.
 
I had not cooked any meat in advance for dinner and I had gone to Jazzercise so I had a sweet potato for dinner. Of course that's also when I stabbed my hand with a knife cutting up an avocado so I didn't even eat all of my potato because I was just sick over the pain.
 
how's it going .... it's going really, really well. I'm enjoying this challenge. I admit it does take a lot of planning. I'm hoping to get a lot of cooking done this weekend for the upcoming week.
 
later.......

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Clean eating ... day 2

well, if I don't eat something different, these post could get
very, very boring.....as if reading what I eat isn't boring enough

Started my day with 2 cups of black coffee and I liked it!
For breakfast I had the same thing as yesterday.....2 boiled eggs and
a bowl of watermelon.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I do drink tons of water all day long.

for lunch a big salad with chicken that I had cooked last night
I had been putting beets on my salad because they are on the approved
list of food but the beets on our salad bar are pickled and I think
they may have sugar in them so I won't be eating those anymore.
I also had a bunch of blueberries after my salad.

Two of my friends here at work are doing this with me
and one mentioned, we are going to get sick of salads!
So tonight I'm going to try and come up with something different

Dinner was the chicken I cooked last night, a tomato and
roasted string beans. String beans are the only bean allowed on the
Whole30 plan. And I had never roasted them before and wow, loved them and will continue to fix them this way.

 

how I'm feeling .... well, maybe it's all in my head but I'm really
feeling good. I normally drag out of bed and this morning I got right up
feeling great. Which is weird because I didn't sleep that well. Kept
waking up for no reason.
Also, I'm not hungry between meals.....which surprises me. I was going to eat another banana tonight before Jazzercise and I didn't even think about it.
so this is all good, so far! More tomorrow...

later........

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Clean eating ... day 1

First day of clean eating

I had 2 cups of black coffee and to be honest, it was good
I gave up sugar in my coffee when I quit smoking 6 years ago
So I guess giving up the coffee creamer wasn't as hard
as I thought it would be

Breakfast was 2 boiled eggs and a bowl of watermelon
this isn't too different from what I normally eat but the difference
will be that between breakfast and lunch, I won't be snacking or
popping tic tacks in to my mouth ... haha!!

Lunch was a big, big salad
lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, olives
celery, beets, chicken, and olive oil & vinegar for my dressing
all very good!

Dinner was a baked sweet potato, cut up tomato and avocado
I just drizzled olive oil, kosher salt & cracked pepper
and a little oregano


with going to exercise right after work, I did not have time to cook
a meat. But I did have protein for breakfast and lunch.

Once I got home, I baked some chicken so that I will have that for
lunch and dinner tomorrow. But really, I'm not that hungry after Jazzercise so this was fine for me and I was full afterward.

The only time I snacked today was a banana at 5:00 before Jazzercise.
with having nothing since lunch, I needed a bit of a boost to get
through my work out.

So day 1 done!

later......


Clean eating ....

I'm jumping on the band wagon today and starting
the Whole30 clean eating.
it's 30 days of no sugar, no dairy, no alcohol, no grains
pretty much.....no processed foods.
what I can eat is meat, fresh veggies and fruit.
And you can have olive oil so that's good.
I love everything on the approved list, well, except
for things like wild boar and buffalo meat! haha..
Tuesday evening we bought spaghetti squash, fresh string beans,
tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, broccoli,
peaches, blueberries, grapes, watermelon, bananas, avocados,
sweet potatoes....thanks goodness because you can't have
white potatoes during the 30 days. 
and I have plenty of chicken in the freezer


I already eat pretty healthy but the hardest part for me will
be no coffee mate in my coffee!! But it's only for 30 days, that's what
I keep telling myself......I can do anything for just 30 days!!

so wish me luck! And I'll try to update on here whenever I can.

later.......