Well here we are. The very last day of the challenge (for me). I can't believe it's been a month. At the beginning, 30 days felt like a life time. How in the world would I make it a month with so many potential obstacles that can get in the way? Now that I'm here, I'm thinking, how in the world would I change everything back? It's seriously been a great journey that I plan to keep up with even after today... kinda. At this point I know I want to stay gluten free. The idea of going back to white flours and pastas etc etc seams like a really bad idea. I feel too good to break it now. I'll also allow myself the occasional sweetened desserts and occasional alcohol beverages, but for the most part, this is the new me.
The past few days have been a bit confusing. At the beginning I was really tired for the first 4-5 days, then one day I woke up with so much energy I could barely contain it. After that, everything kinda went back to a normal amount of energy (still more than I had before I started the diet). The past couple of days I've been more tired and sluggish than normal, without altering my vitamin intake. My exercising did have to slow down a bit, simply because I started a new job, which now I work two and have a lot less free time.
I've assumed for a while now that I have a hypothyroid issue. It's the only thing that makes since with how I feel as well as taking into the food I eat and exercising time that I put in. I've not lost any weight, completely cut back on calories (around 1,000 - 1,200/day) while exercising at least 45min-1 hr 5-6 days a week. Because of this challenge, it's helped me see that it is more a hypothyroid issue than a food allergy (it could possibly be both). I took some blood work at my Dr.s office and it came back fine, but after much research, I've found that they, more times than not, come back normal even if your thyroid is 30% under active. The affects of being tired all the time, weight gain, hair loss, foggy brain, sore joints, inability to lose weight, dry skin etc etc... are all signs of hypothyroidism. I am please and excited to say I just bought a raw thyroid supplement. Hopefully this will keep me feeling great as well as staying healthy.
Anywho.
I don't think it's necessary to go back and update the days that I missed. I pretty much have been eating the same things all along, except the past couple days adding some lean meats. Thank you for following me in this journey! Maybe I'll keep updating from time to time with recipes I've found and cool things that I've discovered!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Day 3
Breakfast:
Quinoa with agave drizzle, cinnamon, and sliced banana on top. New best way to eat this, in my opinion.
Lunch:
bowl of leftover white chicken chili with one serving of natural corn tortilla chips.
1 huge jazz apple- new favorite kind
(which i ate on the patio at home because it has been SO GORGEOUS outside this week!)
Snack:
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk.
i can't believe this stuff only has 35 calories per serving! it tastes so dreamy. mmmm.
Dinner:
5oz steamed tilapia with lemon, pepper, and earth balance butter served over 1 cup brown rice
1 cup garlic roasted broccoli
1 pecan pie Larabar for dessert
Snack:
I made a delicious batch of stovetop popcorn with olive oil and sea salt. YUM.
And then I watched netflix allll night.
UPDATE-
I weighed myself this morning.
I've lost 4 pounds in 4 days. I'm sure that'll slow down, and you can't tell because 4 pounds on someone who is 5'10" does not matter at all. But I was still pleased. We'll see what happens. Weight loss isn't the goal here, but let's be honest- it's a total benefit.
Quinoa with agave drizzle, cinnamon, and sliced banana on top. New best way to eat this, in my opinion.
Lunch:
bowl of leftover white chicken chili with one serving of natural corn tortilla chips.
1 huge jazz apple- new favorite kind
(which i ate on the patio at home because it has been SO GORGEOUS outside this week!)
Snack:
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk.
i can't believe this stuff only has 35 calories per serving! it tastes so dreamy. mmmm.
Dinner:
5oz steamed tilapia with lemon, pepper, and earth balance butter served over 1 cup brown rice
1 cup garlic roasted broccoli
1 pecan pie Larabar for dessert
Snack:
I made a delicious batch of stovetop popcorn with olive oil and sea salt. YUM.
And then I watched netflix allll night.
UPDATE-
I weighed myself this morning.
I've lost 4 pounds in 4 days. I'm sure that'll slow down, and you can't tell because 4 pounds on someone who is 5'10" does not matter at all. But I was still pleased. We'll see what happens. Weight loss isn't the goal here, but let's be honest- it's a total benefit.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Day 2(.5)
I thought this day would be tricky, because I wasn't home at all. But I packed up my everything-free goodies and hit the road to Ann Arbor to help a friend do some work in his recording studio.
Breakfast, which I made before I left:
Same as the day before, because it's easy and filling-
Quinoa flakes with agave & cinnamon
1/2 pink grapefruit
a mug of green tea with a touch of agave
(This was at 7:30am, and I wasn't even hungry again until almost 1.)
Lunch:
1 banana
lemon larabar
a few almonds because I was craving crunch
(not much, i know...but those Larabars have a LOT of calories for such tiny things! dang. too bad they taste so good.)
Snack:
1 serving of Gensoy Soy Crisps- deep sea salted (SO FREAKIN' GOOD.)
Dinner, which I ate obscenely early (4:30pm) because I was STARVING after all the work we did at the studio:
edamame
1 tuna roll
1 shrimp roll
And somehow I didn't get hungry again until my drive home at like 1:00am. So then I ate an apple and a few more soy crisps.
I have to say, this diet keeps me from making really terrible food choices when I'm driving all around southeast Michigan. So many times I thought about swinging through a drive-thru or grabbing a doughnut at the gas station, but remembered my goodies in the car and was equally stoked to be saving money. AWESOME.
I'll be honest though-
I really really miss my morning coffee with all of it's fatty vanilla creamery goodness. And doughnuts. GAHHH.
And I went over to a friend's house in the evening and really REALLY wanted to partake in the imbibing of delicious forbidden beverages, but I refrained. GO ME.
Edit:
I also made a profile on myfitnesspal.com and I love it. It's so great to put it all your food and then your exercise and watch the calories you're allowed to eat pop back up in your bank, haha. More peanut butter, please!
I'm also doing a little cleanse for the first week of this: SlimQuick 7 Day Detox Cleanse. 4 pills before lunch, 4 pills before bed, and tons of water. It is...cleansing. We'll leave it there. Really stoked for that part to be over. Ha. But I wanted to purge myself of my previous bad food choices while I was making new better ones, so I'll take it.
Now if you don't mind, it is ALMOST 60 DEGREES OUT so I am taking my (not-so-)little booty for another run! I'd been sick recently, so my last 3 miler (day before yesterday) was a TOTAL B-WORD. Hoping the sunshine and happy vibes will see me to 3.5 today.
CHANDRA:
I'm so excited to try your cookie and bread recipes! As soon as I start work next week, I'll actually have a little financial wiggle room to buy some more ingredients to play with. I can't wait.
Breakfast, which I made before I left:
Same as the day before, because it's easy and filling-
Quinoa flakes with agave & cinnamon
1/2 pink grapefruit
a mug of green tea with a touch of agave
(This was at 7:30am, and I wasn't even hungry again until almost 1.)
Lunch:
1 banana
lemon larabar
a few almonds because I was craving crunch
(not much, i know...but those Larabars have a LOT of calories for such tiny things! dang. too bad they taste so good.)
Snack:
1 serving of Gensoy Soy Crisps- deep sea salted (SO FREAKIN' GOOD.)
Dinner, which I ate obscenely early (4:30pm) because I was STARVING after all the work we did at the studio:
edamame
1 tuna roll
1 shrimp roll
And somehow I didn't get hungry again until my drive home at like 1:00am. So then I ate an apple and a few more soy crisps.
I have to say, this diet keeps me from making really terrible food choices when I'm driving all around southeast Michigan. So many times I thought about swinging through a drive-thru or grabbing a doughnut at the gas station, but remembered my goodies in the car and was equally stoked to be saving money. AWESOME.
I'll be honest though-
I really really miss my morning coffee with all of it's fatty vanilla creamery goodness. And doughnuts. GAHHH.
And I went over to a friend's house in the evening and really REALLY wanted to partake in the imbibing of delicious forbidden beverages, but I refrained. GO ME.
Edit:
I also made a profile on myfitnesspal.com and I love it. It's so great to put it all your food and then your exercise and watch the calories you're allowed to eat pop back up in your bank, haha. More peanut butter, please!
I'm also doing a little cleanse for the first week of this: SlimQuick 7 Day Detox Cleanse. 4 pills before lunch, 4 pills before bed, and tons of water. It is...cleansing. We'll leave it there. Really stoked for that part to be over. Ha. But I wanted to purge myself of my previous bad food choices while I was making new better ones, so I'll take it.
Now if you don't mind, it is ALMOST 60 DEGREES OUT so I am taking my (not-so-)little booty for another run! I'd been sick recently, so my last 3 miler (day before yesterday) was a TOTAL B-WORD. Hoping the sunshine and happy vibes will see me to 3.5 today.
CHANDRA:
I'm so excited to try your cookie and bread recipes! As soon as I start work next week, I'll actually have a little financial wiggle room to buy some more ingredients to play with. I can't wait.
Gluten Free French Bread
Well, I did it. I really did it. I cooked and ate my first piece of chicken last night in over two years. I of course bought the hormone free, antibiotic free, cage free chicken breast. My reasoning for when I stopped eating meat was for health reasons solely. Now that I feel like eating mostly carbohydrates and a lot more of them from overcompensation (thus affecting my health in a negative way), I decided to just go for it. And boy, was it filling.
For the past week or so, I've been using myfitnesspal.com everyday. It tracks everything you eat, every single calorie, fat graham, carb, and protein while factoring in how much exercise you did that day. My meal two days ago was 1 tostada (one serving size is 2) corn (in place of rice) black beans, pico de gallo, and lettuce) which equaled 258 calories. A piece of chicken breast with a side of green beans (equally filling) was 180 calories.
Anyway, With that I decided to make gluten free bread. I've been craving sandwiches and toast and every recipe I found for bread made from scratch had about 5098653 different ingredients and were temperamental at that. For my first go around, I decided to cheat and use a box (still cheaper than buying one of those $7 rice loaves that are hard as rocks). I purchased Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread & Pizza mix (partly because their sandwich bread recipe contained sugar). Mmmmmm French Bread....
For the past week or so, I've been using myfitnesspal.com everyday. It tracks everything you eat, every single calorie, fat graham, carb, and protein while factoring in how much exercise you did that day. My meal two days ago was 1 tostada (one serving size is 2) corn (in place of rice) black beans, pico de gallo, and lettuce) which equaled 258 calories. A piece of chicken breast with a side of green beans (equally filling) was 180 calories.
Anyway, With that I decided to make gluten free bread. I've been craving sandwiches and toast and every recipe I found for bread made from scratch had about 5098653 different ingredients and were temperamental at that. For my first go around, I decided to cheat and use a box (still cheaper than buying one of those $7 rice loaves that are hard as rocks). I purchased Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread & Pizza mix (partly because their sandwich bread recipe contained sugar). Mmmmmm French Bread....
Recipe:
1 box Gluten Free Pantry French Bread & Pizza mix (ingredients: white rice flour, potato starch, corn starch, guar gum, granulated honey, salt, and a packet of yeast)
1 3/4 cups of lukewarm water or milk
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs plus 1 egg white
Oven Method: Lightly oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Pour mix and yeast into large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and add. Beat 2 minutes using heavy duty mixer (I didn't have one so i did it by had with a wooden spoon) Scrape dough into loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 40 minutes in a warm place or just until dough rises to the top of the pan. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 40-45 min or until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped. Turn onto rack. Cool completely.
Mmmm breakfast.
Monday, March 14, 2011
FINALLY.
After a pretty hefty financial speed-bump, a significant move back to Michigan from West Virginia, a whirlwind Chicago trip, and a wicked cold, I am FINALLY able to hold up my end of the bargain and start my own 30-day challenge!
This could not have come at a better time for me. I'm not working yet and was really starting to feel sedentary and make horrible food choices. Thankfully, I got my wits together just in time to not notice any serious physical changes from the last couple weeks of too much time on my hands.
I started last night night when I came home from the grocery store. Actually, I didn't start- my mom did. She was so excited about my new diet choices (she's considering a similar challenge based on how I feel after mine) so she whipped up a batch of white chicken chili- one of my FAVORITE meals she used to make when I was growing up. She replaced the flour in the recipe with some corn starch and added a splash of almond milk instead of regular milk, and the rest was the same and completely delicious.
Even better, she made TONS so I have easy lunches for the next couple of days.
Today was my first whole day of the challenge, and I'm still a little hungry- but I'm ALWAYS hungry, so this is nothing new. I decided to try to whip up some fish tacos for dinner, and they were a COMPLETE SUCCESS. Hands down the easiest dinner I've ever made, and one of the tastiest! I didn't use a recipe or anything, just kinda threw some ingredients together. I'll be using this as a go-to plenty of times, I'm sure.
So, here was my day:
Breakfast-
quinoa flakes with a touch of cinnamon and agave drizzle and a splash of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 grapefruit
green tea
Snacks-
(I don't really do lunch...I'm more of a light snacker throughout the afternoon. This way my metabolism keeps moving all day long, and I don't feel too hungry.)
1 small handful of almonds
jazz apple
1 brown rice cake with earth balance peanut butter
Post-run snack-
banana
pbj larabar
Dinner-
Fish Tacos!
I threw a frozen 4oz Tilapia filet in a steam bag with juice from half a lemon and a tab of earth balance buttery spread and microwaved it for 2.5 min. Wen that was done, I flaked it with a fork and placed in on two warmed corn tortillas, added avocado, salsa, chopped romaine, and a little homemade chipotle mayo, and smiled the whole time I ate them. SO SO GOOD. Next time I think I'll add black beans and corn, but I was too hungry from my run earlier to wait any longer!
So far so good, kids. I can totally do this. Right?
This could not have come at a better time for me. I'm not working yet and was really starting to feel sedentary and make horrible food choices. Thankfully, I got my wits together just in time to not notice any serious physical changes from the last couple weeks of too much time on my hands.
I started last night night when I came home from the grocery store. Actually, I didn't start- my mom did. She was so excited about my new diet choices (she's considering a similar challenge based on how I feel after mine) so she whipped up a batch of white chicken chili- one of my FAVORITE meals she used to make when I was growing up. She replaced the flour in the recipe with some corn starch and added a splash of almond milk instead of regular milk, and the rest was the same and completely delicious.
Even better, she made TONS so I have easy lunches for the next couple of days.
Today was my first whole day of the challenge, and I'm still a little hungry- but I'm ALWAYS hungry, so this is nothing new. I decided to try to whip up some fish tacos for dinner, and they were a COMPLETE SUCCESS. Hands down the easiest dinner I've ever made, and one of the tastiest! I didn't use a recipe or anything, just kinda threw some ingredients together. I'll be using this as a go-to plenty of times, I'm sure.
So, here was my day:
Breakfast-
quinoa flakes with a touch of cinnamon and agave drizzle and a splash of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 grapefruit
green tea
Snacks-
(I don't really do lunch...I'm more of a light snacker throughout the afternoon. This way my metabolism keeps moving all day long, and I don't feel too hungry.)
1 small handful of almonds
jazz apple
1 brown rice cake with earth balance peanut butter
Post-run snack-
banana
pbj larabar
Dinner-
Fish Tacos!
I threw a frozen 4oz Tilapia filet in a steam bag with juice from half a lemon and a tab of earth balance buttery spread and microwaved it for 2.5 min. Wen that was done, I flaked it with a fork and placed in on two warmed corn tortillas, added avocado, salsa, chopped romaine, and a little homemade chipotle mayo, and smiled the whole time I ate them. SO SO GOOD. Next time I think I'll add black beans and corn, but I was too hungry from my run earlier to wait any longer!
So far so good, kids. I can totally do this. Right?
6 days left
Woops. Forgot to update for a few days there. I'll just do it all in one go. I can't believe I only have 6 days left! The closer I get the more I'm determined to keep it up (with a few exceptions i.e. wine and frozen yogurt to indulge in every once in a while). I'm also pretty certain that I'm going to be reintroducing lean meats into my diet (it's been 2 years). I'm trying to focus on calories and carbs and where I'm getting them. Eating rice and beans is great and all but so high in carbohydrates and calories especially since it takes more to satisfy you than a piece of meat. Anyway, that's just where I'm at right now.
March 11th
Breakfast:
gluten free corn flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and vanilla
small agave drizzle
Snack:
Grapes
Strawberries
Lunch/dinner:
1 tostada with corn, black beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, salt & pepper
Snack:
Trader joes fiberfull fruit strip
baby carrots
rice crackers with earth balance peanut butter
March 12th
breakfast:
(felt satisfied almost all day off this!)
Egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, red and yellow bell pepper, pico de gallo on top
1 small bunch of green grapes
Lunch:
Blueberry, Strawberry Banana protein shake
1 pink lady apple
Dinner:
Almonds
baby carrots (i knoww)
March 13th
Breakfast:
Gluten free corn flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and banana
snack:
celery sticks with earth balance peanut butter
Lunch:
Brown rice with steamed broccoli and cauliflower
Dinner:
Salad with cucumber, red bell pepper, strawberry, red onion, cherry tomato
Snack:
pink lady apple
baked "nacho cheese" kale chips
Today:
Breakfast:
Gluten free corn flakes with banana and unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Lunch:
Larabar - peanut butter and jelly
1 cup strawberries
Dinner:
1 tostada with corn, black beans, pico de gallo, lettuce
Snack:
Homemade sugar free, gluten free, dairy free cookie dough!
March 11th
Breakfast:
gluten free corn flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and vanilla
small agave drizzle
Snack:
Grapes
Strawberries
Lunch/dinner:
1 tostada with corn, black beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, salt & pepper
Snack:
Trader joes fiberfull fruit strip
baby carrots
rice crackers with earth balance peanut butter
March 12th
breakfast:
(felt satisfied almost all day off this!)
Egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, red and yellow bell pepper, pico de gallo on top
1 small bunch of green grapes
Lunch:
Blueberry, Strawberry Banana protein shake
1 pink lady apple
Dinner:
Almonds
baby carrots (i knoww)
March 13th
Breakfast:
Gluten free corn flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and banana
snack:
celery sticks with earth balance peanut butter
Lunch:
Brown rice with steamed broccoli and cauliflower
Dinner:
Salad with cucumber, red bell pepper, strawberry, red onion, cherry tomato
Snack:
pink lady apple
baked "nacho cheese" kale chips
Today:
Breakfast:
Gluten free corn flakes with banana and unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Lunch:
Larabar - peanut butter and jelly
1 cup strawberries
Dinner:
1 tostada with corn, black beans, pico de gallo, lettuce
Snack:
Homemade sugar free, gluten free, dairy free cookie dough!
Friday, March 11, 2011
9 Days left
Wow, Really!?! Only 9 days left. Wow.... This honestly was so much easier than I thought it would be. Thank goodness. Keeping it up wont be that hard either... I'm already thinking about adding the exception of some wine/alchybevey when I'm off though.
One thing I've realized is kinda necessary on this diet though is a food processor... which I don't have and something I need to invest in. There are so many recipes out there that I can't do because of this very reason.
Yesterday I went over to my friend Rebecca's to help her make cupcakes for a bachelorette party she's throwing this weekend. I thought it would be hard smelling all the chocolate cupcakes and white raspberry cupcakes in the oven, and it was haha. However... I was proud of myself and didn't even lick the chocolate frosting and batter that got on my hands and washed it quickly off, haha.
I was starting to get really bored with my diet and have been considering adding lean meats every once in a while. I did start thinking this when I realized I was missing a lot of groceries to make good and interesting meals, so after I went to the grocery store I realized that was the problem with why I was bored. No lean meat, yet. I found gluten free corn flakes yesterday and was craving cereal for dinner so bad for some reason. It was so good!
Breakfast:
1 rice thin cake with 1 tbsp earth balance peanut butter
Lunch:
Larabar - Cherry Pie
raw almonds
Dinner:
gluten free corn flakes
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
chopped banana
sliced fresh strawberries
agave nectar drizzle
1 apple
Snack:
Rice cracker thins
white seedless grapes
One thing I've realized is kinda necessary on this diet though is a food processor... which I don't have and something I need to invest in. There are so many recipes out there that I can't do because of this very reason.
Yesterday I went over to my friend Rebecca's to help her make cupcakes for a bachelorette party she's throwing this weekend. I thought it would be hard smelling all the chocolate cupcakes and white raspberry cupcakes in the oven, and it was haha. However... I was proud of myself and didn't even lick the chocolate frosting and batter that got on my hands and washed it quickly off, haha.
I was starting to get really bored with my diet and have been considering adding lean meats every once in a while. I did start thinking this when I realized I was missing a lot of groceries to make good and interesting meals, so after I went to the grocery store I realized that was the problem with why I was bored. No lean meat, yet. I found gluten free corn flakes yesterday and was craving cereal for dinner so bad for some reason. It was so good!
Breakfast:
1 rice thin cake with 1 tbsp earth balance peanut butter
Lunch:
Larabar - Cherry Pie
raw almonds
Dinner:
gluten free corn flakes
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
chopped banana
sliced fresh strawberries
agave nectar drizzle
1 apple
Snack:
Rice cracker thins
white seedless grapes
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