Paleo Mayonnaise and BBQ sauce

Today I got busy in the kitchen and made Paleo Mayonaise and BBQ sauce.

I used the recipe from Well Fed 2 book. It turned out well but I only had extra virgin olive oil and my mayo came out very strong. Next time I will use regular olive oil and hope it will taste better.

The BBQ sauce came out great. I used the recipe from It Starts With Food and only added one little strip of anchovies. I totally love it. It is so easy to make I don't need to buy in store any more. 

For protein I made Nom Nom Paleo crispy smashed chicken recipe. It's in her iPad app or the cookbook. It came out terrific. Even my picky kids ate it (although not super enthusiastically.....).

I had it for dinner with tons of leftover veggies. I also made coleslaw from scratch with my new mayo. I am pretty happy. Haven't been hungry all day. Walked over 10k steps. 

I had a good first day. I am not missing my two squares of chocolate nor my once a day 1 tbs of heavy whipping cream in my afternoon coffee. 

Whole 30 Day 1

Not sure why I started today. I thought it's Jann1st :-)

In any case, doesn't matter as I am pretty eager to eat healthy.

Couldn't bring myself to plan the week ahead. I will stock up my regular veggies and meat and figure out what to make. 

Breakfast - packed to go since I went to ice rink with kids. Fried 2 eggs and 3 strips of Applegate chicken with Apple breakfast sausage with leftovers of zucchini with greens, mushrooms, dried tomatoes and tomato sauce. Packed it all in my thermos container. 

Lunch - didn't have anything ready so assembled a can of sardines in water, half leftover avocado, leftover 2 small beets (trader joes), tomatoe, Persian cucumber, half hard boiled egg white (leftover from my daughter) and a little bit green beans. 

Am feeling well for now. Not super full but not hungry. Sipping green tea just because it's pretty cold! Skated about an hour with my younger daughter. Hope that second half of the day stays the same.

Planning to make chicken breast for dinner. Will post separately. Am going to make mayonnaise now. 

I started moving my body. Still no scale change

I find it very interesting. Not stressing about it at all. It seems like I should be learning something about my body now. I have been eating really well for over a week now. When I say eating well I mean eating something like 2-3 eggs + veggies for breakfast (or like yesterday no breakfast), meat or fish with veggies (low carb) for lunch and same for dinner, on most days I had 2 squares of dark (85%) chocolate and ~2 times a week a small pack of sea snacks (seaweed). I think that about 3-4 times I had a really small portion like 1oz nuts (almonds/pistachios/macademia). Once I had Sophia's Survival Food 1oz pack of beef jerky. 

Today I had Fage Greek yogurt (2%) with 1oz slithered almonds and some frozen blueberries for breakfast. I did feel a little hungry in second half of the day while in previous days I don't remember feeling this. I wonder if the yogurt/dairy is affecting me.

I am starting The Whole 30 tomorrow so will not be having yogurt anymore, or my 1tbs of heavy whipping cream with my afternoon decaf coffee. I am curious to see how I will feel?

The scale isn't moving. But I am actually feeling like I have slimmed down. I am fitting into my size 4 jeans finally!

I did walk 10000 steps in the past 2 days. Today I took my kids for a short jog/run around our block and it feels great. I am pretty happy with myself.

I am feeling pretty good. I wanted to plan my meals for the week and do grocery shopping but I just cannot bring myself to plan. I really want to document my first Whole 30 and will try to photograph my meals but I am not sure I'll be able to. It's not like I will eat dramatically different. Just no Fage yogurt, dark chocolate or heavy whipping cream. Will have to stay away from food at social gatherings since they all use commercial dressings, sauces and marinates. No problem, I will bring my own tuna salad, have done it before.

Tomorrow I plan on making my first batch of mayonnaise and bbq sauce. 

Not hungry

I had a late dinner yesterday at around 8 pm. Now it is 9am and I am still not hungry. I know they say breakfast is most important meal but it's also important to listen to my body. I want to eat but am not hungry.

I made it to noon and still am not hungry. We are at a restaurant to celebrate my husband's birthday so I am ordering a lunch special of grill chicken and veggies. I am starting to feel a little light headed so it is probably time to eat. Seems like I intermittent fasted through breakfast.

Am feeling pretty good. We went bowling this morning so I had some movement in my day. My pants are feeling loose. :-)

Costco article Strategies for successful weight loss maintenance

In January Costco Connection magazine there's an article on successful weight Los maintenance.

It's a good short article.

The big revaluation for me is the importance of exercise. Not that I didn't know before......just that now it is connected to successful maintenance. Hope that the link takes to the article.

http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201501/m3/MobileArticle.action?articleId=542878&pg=66&mobileWeb=true&lm=1419596587000

Infound a funny thing in last little box, tips for weight loss. There is a very short little bullet number 4 which says "chose vegetables as your only source of carbohydrates". :-) 

Whole 30?

I have been eating my 3 meals of protein and veggies in healthy fat (and 2 squares of dark chocolate) every day now. No weight loss. I am hovering at 146-147lbs. But I am not discouraged or frustrated. I know I will drop those 15lbs. When I do it I will decide if I want to drop a few more. Simply because I felt great at 130lbs and my clothes fit me right at that weight. 

Actually I am feeling much lighter today and my 'bigger' jeans feel roomy. I cannot weight myself as it will wake my husband. I will weight tomorrow. I did weight myself last night and was 147 in evening. I am guessing I am 2-3 lbs lighter ..... I suspect that staying away from Fage Greek yogurt this past week did good for me. 

I know that I want and need to incorporate exercise in my life. After reading the article innCostco magazine, I realize that I must incorporate exercise if if I want to maintain. I just need to establish a workable schedule for my exercise and for ME. Since I am a stay at home mom I find it hard to do anything for myself once the kiddos are home from school. I am more like a chauffeur, task manager, Sargent master, mediator, cook, waitress etc starting from 2 pm. My three options to move are early morning before getting ready for school, during school day or in evening after they go to sleep. The last option is not really practical during school year. I really want to wake up at 6 am and move but will need to sleep at 9:30/10 for that. The ideal is of course during the day when they are at school, this way I don't need to wake up super early. I keep sabotaging and keeping myself occupied. I should just do it. And make a plan for the days off. Basically, it should become a regular part of my day, like meals. 

So wishing myself luck. 

I already decided I will do The Whole 30 starting January 1st. I am trying to plan my meals. Wanted to plan the whole month but probably will not be able to plan ahead. I intend to plan weekly. Will sit down today/tomorrow and make a list of groceries. I am going through my recipes and www.nomnompaleo.com all Whole 30 posts. 

I also decided that I will not 'allow' myself indulgences of coconut ice cream or any other 'healthy' or creamy goodies even after whole 30.
Is this the end of tiramisu for me? I think so. Even in the rare occasions that I had it, I always wanted more, the pleasure was always too short and the pleasure was instant. I believe I will not miss it. My life will be better off without it and will not be any better with it (or other goodies). 

Food Junkies

So yesterday I was thinking about why I haven't been losing weight and even gained almost a pound but I am not too worried. I am eating a pretty clean diet. I could walk and move a little more. I have been looking all day at doing The Whole 30 and I think I will probably start Jan 1. Trying to figure out a plan and spending some time on the forums. I ordered few 100% cocoa chocolate bars online yesterday as I think having 1-2 squares a day will still be compliant and will replace my current 85%. I still want to lose weight and don't want to turn to nuts. I think I can eat them in pre measured amount when I exercise regularly and want to maintain. 

I finished reading the book Food Junkies. 

While it was interesting to learn about food addiction and hear people's stories it seems like the main suggestion is to admit/learn about the addiction, identify trigger foods, abstain from trigger foods, usually grains and sugar, and most important have a support system and community. 

It is a nice book all together. Gave me a little perspective on food and thoughts about food. 

While I don't think I am a full blown addict I believe I have some small degree of addiction sometimes. I was an undiagnosed secretly bulimic as a teenager, have been eating and thinking about food at different points in life. Mainly when I didn't have anything to do I used food to comfort me and keep me company. Today, I am doing much better but sometimes at social gatherings I can become pre occupied with food. Now that I know more I think it gives me the tools to deal with it. 

I also think that for me, the longer I have been off grains and sugar i am having gradually less thoughts about food. I hope that with time I will grow to not want the tiramisu just like it took me almost a year of not wanting pastry or bagels. I have learned now, after my gradual weight gain of 15lbs over the past year that this once in a while goodie is not good for me. I don't "deserve" it. It is not harmless. The fact that it is there and it's free doesn't mean that I deserve it. Even if I don't gain weight immediately doesn't mean I should have it. Even if others are eating it doesn't mean I should or even want. 

Stubborn Weight loss

I have been eating well since my little slip on Sunday. I am trying to log my food on MFP but can't always log cooked meals. I have a general idea since I only eat protein and veggies. 

In stepped on the scale today and I am up again to 147lbs. Not sure why. I don't think I ate more I should have. I think it is some sort of water retention. Not exactly sure. I will try to hold on the Fage yogurt I have for breakfast. Will have eggs instead. I am sure that I will keep eating like this and eventually the pounds will come off. I am feeling really good, my body is feeling great, I am not hungry. It's an indication for me I am on the right track. 

Refuse to Regain chapter 3

Darn it, right on the money. Bam!

I thought that my size 4 jeans (and all my new clothes) would be the best motivation for me to maintain my weight at 128-132lbs. But right from the start chapter 3 hit me right it my face.

"As time goes on, friends and family (and even you) will get accustomed to your new size. When this happens, manny of the positive reinforcements you associated with losing weight will be gone. Lacking these motivators, you may well be tempted to seek out other things that make you feel good. These may include ice cream, chips, and brownies." 

I have done exactly that in the past 2 years. I was over confident. I got used to my new clothes size. But when my size 4 jeans are too tight for me to wear it actually is motivating me to change and adjust.

The next chapters are actually less interesting for me. I am already aware of grain free primal eating benefits. What I realized is that I need support, that's why I am now following motivating maintenance blogs. I am also rambling on my own blog, trying to figure things out and keeping myself accountable.

Refuse to Regain #1

Started reading Barbara Berkeley's book Refuse to Regain. Getting confirmation that "the skills required to maintain weight differ markedly from those required to lose it and Maintenance Juniors do not yet have these skills. While Juniors are powerfully convinced that they will never return to old ways, they almost always do."

Now I realize that I had all these symptoms during the past 2 years. I did feel over confident, tried to do it alone, had a weak plan and relied on moderation.

Thinking back I now realize that I did indulge in desserts. Tiramisu here and there. Coconut ice cream. Almond/coconut flour baked goods, even coconut butter frozen items. I thought I was in control. I thought I would compensate the next day. I thought I understood. I thought I deserved it. 

Then there were the temptations. I had to make healthy treats to try and get my kids on board. I wanted to give them healthy snacks so they wouldn't crave junk all the time, so they would refuse all the unhealthy options thrown at them all the time, so I could offer my husband a healthy option. Bottom line,these are trigger foods. It kept my husband and kids in sugar mentality. It got me to consume things I didn't need and kept me hooked on sugar. I thought that by switching to Paleo and abstaining from grains I'd be safe. But even healthy ingredients trigger foods are still that. Being excited about trying these recipes, then trying not to eat too much of them but since they are sweet they still had a grip on me. 

I still don't have a plan. I don't have clarity about how will I deal with these trigger foods in the future. I am still learning. But at least now I know what I need to learn. I know that what I did in the past didn't work. 

I stopped following the Paleo figures, blogs and FB as I didn't want to see their sweet recipes in front of me. I even didn't want to keep seeing the plain food recipes in my inbox every week or twice a week. I am a simple person, I don't need a lot of variety. I like eating steady foods, yes I like to have fish, chicken and beef but do I need 20 or more different recipes? No I don't. I am not such a big foodie. I am good eating the same thing 2-3 days in a row. I'd rather work less :-) sure I like to learn make new dishes once in a while but I don't need to see these recipes in front of me every week. 

Took me a while to balance this concept and unsubscribe from all the newsletters, blogs and FB pages I was subscribed to. 

Healthy Eating

Since losing weight and switching to Paleoish eating I have been trying to eat unpackaged natural, REAL food. But tempting packaged food is everywhere. For a while I got lured in and even few days ago almost got tempted at Sprouts Market to get something, like Kale chips or some other dried veggie. Packages are so tempting and everything is "natural". I stopped myself after looking at nutritional content and price (all over $4). kale chips take 20 min to make in my own home oven, why pay this inflated price? The other healthy sweets like the "cocoroons" are better than lets say snickers bar but do I really need it? It is a trigger food, that provides comfort and not nutrition. This packaged food appeals to the food junkie in me. This is a very important realization for me and I am still contemplating. Will probably have more thoughts on the matter in the future.

Thoughts on holidays eating, food junkies and such

I have been thinking about food in the past couple day. I attended 2 parties on Sunday and realized that while I do fine during the week, when I eat home made food, plan and prepare my meals weekends and holidays bring out the temptations. I can even handle restaurants since I have full control over what I order, the only challenging restaurants for me are Mexican, I find protein but they have no veggies other than salsa to offer me. 

Social events, usually at people's houses are my challenge at the moment. I do not understand why I want food when I am not really hungry. Just the fact that the table is full of food doesn't mean I need or want to eat anything from it. Why can't I just sip water and talk with people? No one was pressuring me. I am still baffled by myself. 

Reading the book Food Junkies and realize I have some degree of food addiction going on there. As i weaned myself off grains and am now doing so well with a very limited and controlled amount of nuts (1oz almonds and up to 20 pistachios 2-3 times a week), up to 2 squares of dark 85% chocolate just protein and veggies nutrition I am starting to realize that I have trigger foods and need to stay away from them. 

I already know that obstaining from grains worked really well for me. I am not longing for them and I do not miss them. I do not feel deprived, on the contrary, I feel free, liberated and better off. I don't remember when it happened exactly. I know that for at least 6 months I kept thinking that once I drop the weight I will go back to eating limited quantities but as I dropped the weight and learned about Paleo I didn't want to even get near grains. I remember going into Starbucks with the intention of buying something, because I deserve it (great addict logic), looking at the options and not being tempted by ANYTHING! It was like a miracle. That is true freedom for me. 

So I am still pondering on the topic. Wondering how I can stop wanting certain foods (desserts) and how can I stop wanting to eat just because food is presented. 

I hope that Food Junkies will help me with something. 

Food awareness

Our world is so food centric. Yet our lifestyle is so still. I think about everything I put in mouth now because I want to lose weight but I know, from experience that I will drop this extra weight and then what?  Will I ever be able to stop thinking twice about what I eat?
In the past 2 years I did let myself indulge, here and there, thinking "only once"," I can allow myself" and the best "tomorrow I will cut my food intake". But guess what? It didn't work. So I know I cannot rely on that in the future.

I went to 2 parties today. I had lunch before the first one. Kids party, I knew there will be only junk food. And so it was. I had 3 strawberries and water. The second party was more challenging. I had to resist temptation chocolate, cookies,,cakes and even chili and stew. Well, I had stew sans potatoes mand carrots and just a spoon taste of chili. I had to taste the coconut macaroon and had green beans as they where my only vegetable option (I don't eat carrots for now as they are high in carbs). 

I am not super happy, I wish I hadn't had the strawberries, I don't normally eat them, I just had them because they were in front of me. The same with other party. Stew and beans were my dinner so I guess they are ok. Still, I ate not because I was hungry but because food was there. I ate just so I do not get tempted by all the other stuff. 

I need to have a better strategy for these social situations. 

Got Refuse to Regain today am hoping to gain some wisdom.

I have progress, losing weight and learning

Yesterday I was feeling hungry or wanting to eat in the afternoon. Not sure which one it was. My day was disrupted just before 2 when my older daughter called from school and asked me to pick her up earlier. I was just about to sit down to eat lunch but packed it to go. I picked her up and had to go home for her to change as she was soaking wet, then had to rush to pick my younger daughter and was planning to rush to the ice rink. But had to change plans on the fly as the young one was feeling sick and wasn't up to driving or hanging around ice rinks. I immediately called another parent who was available and i rushed over to deliver my kid with her equipment. Then I went home, put my sick child to rest and had my lunch. By that point I was hungry. It was after 3 pm. I had leftover frilled chicken (probably around 2-3 oz) and veggies. So although I finished my salad and had my coffee with cream about an hour after I still had thoughts about food in late afternoon and had a little bit of beef that I made earlier that day in crock pot. I loved it. Wonderful and easy recipe http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/crockpot/crock-pot-balsamic-roast/. That kept me ok until dinner. 
I had my dinner around 7 pm, omelette made with 1 egg and 2 egg whites, various veggies (mushrooms, tomatoes, grated zuccini, peppers). 
In the evening I still was feeling like i want something to eat, still not sure if it was hunger or just wanting. I had a bag of 1oz beef jerkey http://grassfedjerkychews.com/ and then I was pretty satisfied for the day. Well, not until I had my square of dark chocolate. 
I wasn't completely happy with myself today but nevertheless proud. I ate more than I thought I should be but I ate real food. 

I stepped on the scale this morning and had a pleasant surprise! I was over 2lbs down! 

I spent the evening researching weight loss with Paleo. I don't like the theoretic advice from Mark Sisson, Kris Kresser and all the other Paleo experts. I am not saying it is bad advice. Their advice is based on science and is general. I am looking for real life stories, with details and different angels. There is a lot of advice out there, limit your carbs to 50g or lower for example, but I want to hear from people who actually did it. 

I found this wonderful blog that I never heard about before http://www.threedietsonedinner.com/2012/07/the-paleo-diet-for-weight-loss.html 
I figured that if I don't lose weight next week I will drop the dairy. I am not having much, Fage Greek yogurt few times a week, 1/4 cup mozzarella grated cheese (I try to use it on the days I don't eat the yogurt), cream cheese once in a while, 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream with my coffee once a day. 
I was thinking of dropping the dairy this week to see how it goes but seems like I might not need to do it since i did start dropping the excess pounds. so I will keep going. I think I should be drinking more water. I am also thinking my body needs to adjust to this eating and this week was about that. 
I haven't had Quest bar for this whole week. 

The bump near my chin is also disappearing and the rest of my chin is clearing. I will post a photo tomorrow since I have makeup on now. 

Not the result I was hoping for on the scale

Today I weigh in, not on empty stomach, I did have coffee, but was hoping to see a pound less on scale, but I was up a bit. Disappointing but not the end of the world. I am still determined. I know I should be moving more and wondering if I should reduce amount of fat or protein that I consume although i was feeling pretty happy with my eating this week. 

I had Fage 2% with 1oz almonds for breakfast and am about to eat lunch pictured, about 3oz grilled chicken in teriyaki sauce and veggies (cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumber, yellow and red pepper and broccoli). For dinner I will have more veggies and 1 egg and 2 liquid egg whites. And I will probably have a little bit of dark chocolate 97%. 

Next week I will evaluate and adjust if needed. 

Learning to not react

Yesterday I didn't react. I wanted to eat but learned that I don't need to react on this wanting by reminding myself what I do want. I have been eating clean for several days now and don't have any cravings. My face is clearing. I still have this bump near my chin and i hope it will clear in few days. My mindset is most important. Next week I will try to photograph my food before meals.

So far it is doable. Weekend might be a challenge since I will be attending parties. I will prepare myself by coming to the party after I eat my homemade meal.

I am dealing with wanting to eat

Popped some Kale chips in the oven and am drinking coffee. 

I am going to beat this!

Tuesday reflection

Yesterday I stayed on plan. Didn't exercise when planned but made sure to still exercise after brought kid from school. It wasn't easy but I did it. 

Today I had a different breakfast, with eggs and egg whites and veggies. Had it late, around 11 am. Now an hour later I am feeling a bit hungry, well not exactly hungry but I want to eat something.mi am not exactly full. Drinking tea and reminding myself about my goal. 

I am having a busy day. Will pack lunch with me to make sure I don't need to buy food. I am determined to fit back into my size 4 jeans! Especially since I was feeling great when I did fit in them. 

Yesterday I ordered Barbara Berkeley's book "Refuse to Regain". I have heard about it when going on Maintenance from MF but didn't think I will need it. Now I realize that I do need to do things differently if I want to maintain. 

Reflections on a good day

Yesterday was a good day. It was good and not great because I ate a clean diet, stayed within my plan, didn't have cravings, logged everything I ate and basically was feeling pretty good all day, but I didn't walk or excercise. 

I have this breakout near my chin which started a couple of days before. 

I will focus on exercise today and make sure I actually do my T-Tapp routine. 

I also want to plan my menu for the next 3 days because if I don't plan I will not have healthy clean food to eat which leads me to eating things that are not good for me. 

Re Comitting

It has been over a year. I haven't blogged. I gained 15lbs, when I actually wanted to drop 5lbs.

My size 4 jeans are too tight to wear. I am now in size 6. I stopped exercising. I stopped wearing /using my FitBit. I stopped using My FitnessPal to track my food. I don't weight myself regularly. My acne is acting up. I allow myself food indulging occasionally.

I don't like it. 

I realize I have 2 options.

1.  Keep doing what I am doing, which will result probably in further gain and me feeling miserable. 

2.  Take an action. Do what worked in the past.

I am choosing option #2.

My plan is:

1. Blog / journal daily

2. Use my FitBit and start moving my body

3. Exercise with my T-Tapp DVDs

4. Walk

5. Track my food on MFP

6. Weigh in weekly

7. Plan my food and snacks for the day

8. Read other weight maintenance blogs daily

9. Stay away from nuts and other indulgence foods

10. Adjust and learn from every day. 

My first goal is to drop the 15lbs I gained and fit in my size 4 jeans. 

I am 5.3 and currently weigh 147lbs. My plan is to keep my food at 1100-1200 calories and carbs at under 50g. Hoping it will get me to 2lbs weekly loss and my goal by end of February.