Our Menu for the Week & Reintroducing Beans

Hello!  How's your week kicking off?  I started mine with a bit of a belly ache.  When I saw Dave's mom's appetizer at the family dinner last night, I had every intention of completely avoiding it.  She brought a salsa dish that was primarily black beans and corn with some tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and lime juice.  I hadn't tried any of it when Dave's mom excitingly told me that she thought I would like this dish since it had avocados in it and it was pretty healthy!  At this point, I felt obligated to try it and it was pretty tasty.  I should have stopped there, but everyone kept raving about how good it was and I had to agree.  Throughout the night I definitely tried some other non compliant things, but I knew none of them were at fault when I started to have some serious flatulence upon leaving the party. Beans beans, they're good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you... feel like you need to use the bathroom but just can't.  Needless to say, between this and the chili incident, I will not be including beans in my diet.

Food stuff with my mother-in-law is awkward.  I thought she had the gist of what we eat and don't eat, but I guess we've never discussed legumes.  Do I have food allergies?  No.  Am I going to get sick if I eat pasta/bread/beans/etc?  Do stomach pains count...?  Do I offend my mother-in-law when she makes a dish specifically thinking I will like it?  I'd love to just sit down with her and come clean, but for some reason I always just feel like I'm being ridiculous.  To a woman who shows her love in the kitchen, am I just being a snobby health freak?  Mehhhhhhh.

Between eating out a few times this weekend and the bean situation, it's definitely time to get back on track and do some meal planning!  So what's on the menu this week?  Tonight I made Sweet Potato Waffle Breakfast BLT With Garlic Basil Aioli.  It was slightly labor intensive but it was oh so worth it!  The waffles were great and it was fun to finally use our waffle maker.  I may never make Paleo pancakes in a pan ever again, this was so much easier.

Here's what's coming up later this week:

• Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
• Mediterranean Style Cauliflower Rice 
• Caramelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam
• Bacon Avocado Cups with a Balsamic Glaze

Dave and I think going out on Valentine's Day is overrated, so our tradition is to stay home and enjoy some homemade chicken parm.  It's my favorite food and I won't be doing anything to try and make it Paleo.  I will be making my own sauce (minus the sugar, plus some fresh tomatoes) and serving it with a big veggie lasagne (hold the noodles but don't forget the cheese).  I'm even thinking of making some treats for Vday and these two recipes caught my eye: Paleo Double Chocolate Cupcakes and Paleo Cookie Dough.

And let's end with some mug shots.

Would you tell your family if you didn't want to eat something they made for you?  What do you think I should do?

Guest Post: Julia's Whole30 Recap!

Shortly after I kicked off my July Whole25, I realized my friend Julia was also doing a Whole30.  She's a friend from the gym and she's also in the process of becoming a coach!  Going through the Whole30 with other people makes it so much easier and it was great to have her support (and someone to commiserate with) throughout the month!  Congrats Julia :)

To preface my improvements throughout the past month, let me give you a background of where I am coming from.  I did my first Whole30 November 2013.  I did well throughout the program, but once I was done, I spiraled back into my bad eating habits prior to my Whole30.  Not being completely able to get back into a steady 80/20 paleo diet I watched my progress in crossfit slow down, my sleep patterns falter, and my overall mood become negative.

Improvements during my detox:

1. My weight lifting improved.  At the end of June, my gym (CrossFit Valley Forge) tested its members’ max effort clean and jerk.    My previous max was 140lbs, and I couldn’t even get close to it.  I was ashamed of my futile effort, hitting only a modest 125lbs.  That one instance in which I failed to set a new record drove me to do my second Whole30.  Six days ago, I cleaned 135lbs. FIVE times.  Three days ago I cleaned 145lbs. one time.  The improvement is 99% due to the dietary choices I made.  I don’t think I necessarily got that much stronger over the past month.  I think the fact that I was able to be a more positive thinker contributed to that extra 20lbs. I added to my lift.  Bottom line: the right food allowed me to confide in myself.
2. I didn’t drink as much caffeine.  When your hormones work properly, the rest of your body can function independently of drugs and chemicals.  In fact, the time of day when we need caffeine the least is in the morning as long as our (stress hormone) cortisol fires at the right time.  Most people don’t even know what that initial jolt of early morning cortisol is supposed to feel like because it gets buried under the mentality of “needing” caffeine to function in the morning.  I’d have a small cup of coffee or tea and be all set for the rest of the day. 
3. Meal preparation is a useful task for everyone, Whole30 or not.  Meal prep not only saved me money during my Whole30, but it kept me from overeating those restaurant sized portions of food.  One of my take aways this time is to always be prepared.  Especially since I play in a band and often find myself at bars which specialize in chicken wings and greasy French fries.  Even if prepared meals aren’t an option, find an approved recipe for a protein shake and bring some compliant jerky, cut up veggies, or Larabars with you – something is always better than nothing.
4. Coming out of the Whole30, it is perfectly okay to cheat in moderation.  In fact, cheat meals (pizza, a slice of cake, whatever your guilty pleasure might be) act like a “jump-start” to your metabolism.  Believe it or not, cheat meals are crucial to successful weight loss.  The mistake I made after my first Whole30 was that I pigged out on everything I had missed for a whole month.  The thing to remember is, you will absolutely be able to have that cup of ice cream again! Don’t worry, I promise.  But you probably shouldn’t have that cup of ice cream, half of a pizza, a 6 pack of beer, and a box of cookies all in once sitting (sadly, a true story).  Space it out over a couple weeks and you’ll have been able to treat yourself to all of the things you missed out on during your Whole30.
5. Once again, I have made it alive through a Whole30.  The non-compliant things I have invited back into my diet all have a purpose in the grand scheme of my 80/20 paleo regimen (I’ve been calling it “As Paleo As Possible.”).  Whole milk, for example, has an exceptional amount of calcium and vitamin D.  I only drink it right before I go to bed, as it helps me sleep and provides protein to aid the body in recovery.  Honey, too, because it is in many of the paleo sauces available via Steve’s Paleo – at 2 grams of sugar per serving, I’m not that worried about it.  Eventually, I will add rice post workout and maybe even yogurt for the benefit of its probiotic content.

Thanks for reading my post.  I hope it helps answer some of the questions and concerns that might surface during your own Whole30.  My first Whole30 overlapped Thanksgiving and Christmas; meaning I had to be compliant during holidays, too.  It just goes to show that nothing is more important than the food with which we choose to fuel our bodies.  Remember: it’s only 30 days.

How Many More Times?

Although I'm hearing an awesome Led Zeppelin song in my head, the title of this post is not referring to my love doing me wrong.  No, it's about... you guessed it... food.  (Well, the more I think about it, maybe this post is about my love doing me wrong lol.)

Sunday was a day that revolved around family and eating.  I made brunch for my mama and it was Paleo and delicious.  Dinner with Dave's family was a different story.  Throughout the evening I managed to drink an entire bottle of white wine to the face.  Finishing dinner with a giant piece of cherry cheesecake certainly didn't help anything.  My evening ended with a huge swollen tummy and a belly ache.  Shocking, I know.

But wait... didn't I just do this last weekend?  Cinco de Mayo, which involved a total of 2 pina coladas and 2 beers (aka not really all that much), left me feeling like complete crap on Monday despite getting 9.5 hours of sleep Sunday night.  I literally had a headache the entire day and thought, ugh I cannot do this to myself.

So how many more times can I put myself through the same thing before I learn?  I don't want to wake up feeling craptastic after getting 9.5 hours of sleep... that's just silly!  I don't want to lay in my bed unable to fall asleep because my stomach feels like it's going to explode.  So, why is this so hard?

Well, because booze is fun and Dave's mom's desserts are (almost) worth the tummy ache.  But there's a difference between having a glass of wine and drinking the whole bottle.  And there's a difference between having a taste of dessert and purposely picking out the biggest piece that was cut.  I desperately need to find a balance!

Ugh.  I really want to stop talking about food fails!  Honestly, most of the time I am making awesome food choices and I feel great.  But when I fail, it's epic and my body lets me know just how it feels about it.

Do you ever eat or drink things that you know will make you feel bad afterwards?  How do you handle treats?