Day 4: whole 30 challenge

Today was definitely the hardest.  I stayed up till 2 a.m. trying to get all the cooking done for the week.  My failproof recipe for mayonaise turned out broken.   I put too much liquid in the food processor and spilled it everywhere. I tried to use the food processor to cut up meat and accidentally made puree.   My mini quiches turned out this strange shade of green.  I was beyond frustrated.  For the rest of the day I was thinking "why am I doing this again?" 
The day wasn't a total loss.  Nick and I found some cool tools at Costco to help us with our new lifestyle.  My favorite are the water pitchers with the infusing tube to make flavored water.
Breakfast: Fried eggs and sweet potato hash
Lunch: chicken salad
Dinner: bacon wrapped roast and carrots

Day 3: whole 30 challenge

Today was exhausting but wonderful.  I woke up at 3am full of energy and went straight to the kitchen.  I made homemade mayonnaise and homemade ranch.  Then this afternoon I made a roasted chicken, a boiled chicken for chicken salad, sweet potato fries, and pumpkin soup.  For Hollin I made carrot and tangerine puree and banana plum grape puree.  Sitting down at the table and eating as a family for the first time in our new house was great :)

Breakfast: leftover salmon frittata and avocado
Lunch: leftover turkey and acorn squash soup and a grapefruit
Dinner: Pumpkin soup roasted chicken and sweet potato fries

Day 2: whole 30 challenge

Today was pretty good.  The hardest part was how long it took to cook dinner.  Prepping food on the weekends is going to be key.

Breakfast: leftover turkey and acorn squash soup
Lunch: chicken salad and chicken broth
Dinner: tomato and avocado salad, salmon frittata with pesto, pureed roasted eggplant and clementines

Day 1- Whole 30 Challenge

Today was pretty easy because I planned ahead.  The hardest part was coming back to Nick's parent's house full of food I'm not eating right now.  But it was only tempting when I was hungry.  I'm feeling full and satisfied and ready for day 2.

breakfast: scrambled egg and pineapple
lunch: chicken salad with walnuts and grapes, green salad with vinaigrette, grapefruit
snack: mixed nuts
dinner: turkey and acorn squash soup, banana, and macadamia nuts

Day 0- Whole30 Challenge

So, I am starting the Whole30 challenge tomorrow.  A few months ago, Nick's doctor suggested he try a gluten and dairy free diet.  He researched and decided that the paleo diet might be interesting to try.  At first, I thought that I might be willing to try it as long as I could still eat greek yogurt and oatmeal on the side.  But as I read more blogs and articles written by other people who struggle with emotional eating, I noticed that many people had breakthroughs while doing the Whole30 challenge.  So, Nick and I agreed to start it as soon as we moved into our new house.  I know that this will be hard so I wanted to jot down a few reasons why I'm committed to this goal.  I might need to look back for inspiration soon:

1.  I am going to have more energy and actually feel like I'm in my 20s.
2. I will get a better night's sleep.
3. Cooking dinner will be low stress since I've already planned and prepped the meals.  I'm hoping this high level of organization will spill over into other areas of my life. 
4. Hollin will be eating healthy home-made baby food.  Since I'm cooking a lot of fresh veggies, It will be so convenient to mix some up for him. 
5. Nick and I are taking this journey together and it will bring us closer together.
6. Nick and I will learn from this experience and lead a healthier lifestyle from this point on.
7. This is a challenge, so when I successfully complete this month I am going to feel like a rock star. 

   

Stuck

I just ate four pieces of pizza.  I've spent the past 3 hours on the edge of vomiting.  I tried to throw up but I couldn't.  I ate the fourth pizza slice with the full knowledge it would make me feel ill.  I started overeating at night when I was a child.  Eating too much makes me feel numb.  It helps me sleep.  And somehow feeling sick and being mad at myself for doing it on purpose feels right.  Like I deserve to feel this way.  But I'm a grown ass adult now and I'm really tired of it.  I am the happiest I have ever been and I want to live my best day every day.  But I seriously don't know how to stop.  I have two really destructive habits that come and go in cycles- binge eating and picking my skin.  If I'm not indulging in one, it's the other.  Please gods give me the clarity to make this stop.

Getting back in a routine

So, it's been awhile.  A big thanks goes to my friend Sarah for her continued encouragement.  After she reminded me to post a couple weeks ago, I decided to not watch Dexter until I wrote again.  Alas, the desire to watch my new favorite show has finally worn me down.

The trip to Alabama actually went pretty well.  The best part was enjoying all of my favorite foods without guilt.  I used to eat indulgent foods in a rushed, craze.  But now, I'm learning to savor every bite.  The biggest surprise has been realizing that I don't even enjoy some of my "favorite" foods.  For example, I realized that oatmeal cream pies are so saccharine that I really don't enjoy them.

Now that I'm back to work, my goal is to commit to an exercise routine.  I've noticed that I make better food choices when I'm in an exercise routine and feeling healthy.  Also, I'm positive that combining eating only when I'm hungry and regular exercise will lead to natural, steady weight loss.  So, I'm going to set a ridiculously obtainable goal.  I'm going to exercise once on the weekend and once during the week.  I've got this :)