Day 19

It was quite a long day, as we were away from home from 730am til 930pm, but I still managed to stick it out!

We went to the zoo, so before leaving I made some scrambled eggs and had a bit of leftover stirfry beef that we had. At the zoo, I had a hamburger patty with cheese on it (and some ketchup), and some pickle slices, plus a side salad. For an early dinner, we hit up Rudy's with some friends. I had the lean brisket (with a bit of sauce), plus corn on the cob (I know, it's borderline, but they really don't have anything else there that I could eat) and a small slice of cheese. Much later on, we went to Souper Salad with friends and I had two big bowls of salad (mixed greens, raw cauliflower, tomatoes, etc) with low cal ranch.

Day 18

Wow, only 12 days left to go. Though it has become increasingly clear that I want to turn this into a lifestyle, not just a 30 day challenge. As for Thanksgiving, which is the day after this first 30 days is up, I do plan to keep it as paleo as possible. I can't say I won't have dairy or maybe even some sugar, but definitely going to keep the grains out of it. Now to decide what side dish I want to take!

Today was dicey. I ran out of meat at work and had no time this morning to go by the store. So breakfast was an apple, carrots, and some almond milk. Not meat protein, but it worked. Lunch was a salad with light ranch, and since I had no meat, I ran up to KFC and got 2 grilled boneless filets. Quite a tasty addition to the salad! In the afternoon, I had some almonds. Dinner was scrambled eggs with chopped spinach mixed in, and bacon.

Day 17

Today I learned a few things. I've been reading old blog posts by The Paleo Chix and just trying to learn more about all this. Some of their posts really hit home when dealing with the emotional aspects of this. I think I mentioned last week about how I no longer have a comfort food in grains/starches to turn to, so this diet actually made it so much easier on me. But I'm beginning to delve deeper into that. And I'm realizing that I don't even need those. I realized today at how I'm already beginning to feel like I'm eating to NOURISH my body, rather than "just" feeding it. I mean, this is probably the first time in my entire life that I didn't include pasta, bread, etc, plus processed food, in a diet. (Well, if you don't count the dressing I use...I'm working on that). And I like this feeling. I like knowing that what's going in is the good stuff. Not just mindless crap.

I did keep cheese out of the picture today since I ended up having so much yesterday. No real side effects from it but, it was def too much. For breakfast, I had an apple, some carrots, and a few strips of bacon. Lunch was a springmix/tomato salad with some light ranch, and some deli smoked turkey slices, plus some almonds. That carried me through the afternoon pretty well. Dinner was tenderized cube steak sauteed in a skillet, shredded sweet potatoes, a sliced tomato, and half a banana. Later this evening, I was a bit hungry still so I had the two small leftover pork chops and another sliced tomato.

Day 16

It was a cheese day apparently. I didn't intend it to be, but it happened. I ended up going out to eat twice and that's what did it. I've been pretty good about not even buying it at home. Just need to work on that when out I guess.

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and a piece of sausage. No morning snack as I didn't really need one. Lunch was with friends at Cafe Brazil. I got an omelette with cheese, bacon, and bell peppers, plus a side of fruit. In the afternoon, I had some almonds. Dinner was at Jason's Deli. I had two bowls of spring mix salad with light ranch, plus a cup of broccoli cheese soup, and some apple slices. See? Cheesy day. Tomorrow will be a no cheese day...lol

Day 15!

I've made it halfway! That means 15 days now of no bread, tortillas, rice, pasta, etc. Go me!!!

I'm not quitting now...this morning I had some beef jerky and then some almonds. Lunch was a BLT salad (spring mix, tomato, and bacon bits) with light ranch. No iceberg wimpy lettuce here! In the afternoon, I had an apple. Dinner was scrambled eggs (about 2.5), with chopped spinach and deli roast beef chopped up in it, plus half a banana. This evening, I had a sliced tomato with a bit of ranch on it as a quick snack, and then after my workout, I made two small porkchops for some protein.

So the official 2 week weigh-in was today, and I am down 9 lbs. In two weeks! Woohoo! I do wonder how it would change if I cut out the dressing, but for now, while I adjust, I'm not willing to cut that out yet. We'll see how things go in a few weeks.

Day 14

Two weeks down!! And one day shy of being halfway through the first 30 days I committed to. Really, I am loving this!! It has SO simplified my eating. I get some meat, cook it. Get some veggies, add some dressing if needed to a salad, or cook the veggies. Add some fruit and nuts. The only processed foods I've had are supplemental, like dressing, some beef jerky, cheese, seasoning, etc. Otherwise, it feels good to be going so natural. I don't have to hassle with how to make something as much.

I got some advice to make sure to have some animal protein at breakfast, so I had deli sliced turkey (from the deli at Sprouts) along with a banana for breakfast. That really did keep me going til lunch. At lunch, I went by the store to stock up for the week on meals. So I had a spring mix and tomato salad with some light ranch, and real bacon bits. Plus a string cheese (dairy), and a cup of almond milk. This afternoon, I had some almonds for a snack. Dinner was my new veggie of the week. I steamed some cauliflower. Yes, that's right, I had never tried cauliflower... :( It was good!!! We had the rest of the bacon, plus I finished the last few pieces of beef from last night, and D and I split a head of cauliflower with just some Tony Chacheres and garlic salt, no butter even needed. It was quite tasty!

Day 11, 12, 13

Posting for the whole weekend.

I think I did a really good job of staying prepared this weekend. Friday I was at work. And I had some errands to run so I grabbed a chargrilled and fruit salad from Chick Fila. I've really been trying to eat what I have at work, and not grab fast food for it, but my lettuce had gone bad. :( An apple, almonds, and banana was the rest of what I ate at work. My work catered in pizza, which smelled divine but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I wanted to go to Sprouts after work, so I did grab two slices of pizza to feed D so that he would be chill. After our Sprouts run, I made italian chicken and some salad. Yes, I realize that I basically ate the exact same thing for both lunch and dinner...but the way I cooked it, and the flavors, made it completely different. I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.

Saturday, was interesting. We went and cheered from 11-3 for the SGK 3 Day Walkers. We decided to hit up Golden Corral for a filling breakfast beforehand. I had eggs with salsa, bacon, and some sausage, and half a banana. Yeah, it was odd to not get all the good stuff there, but it's a good thing I love me some eggs and bacon...lol For dinner, I had a big salad and some thin sliced roast beef before heading to a Mom's Night Out. At the MNO, I did get hungry at Main Event, so I ate the meat from a kids hamburger and had a garden salad. Plus a rum and diet coke. lol Yum Yum.

Today, was a calm day. I went to go get D from his overnight. Then came home and made some bacon and eggs. I added a banana to that. For dinner this evening, I had some extra lean beef for stew. So I sauteed that in a bit of olive oil spray, and then added it to a big salad with some ranch.

Overall, other than dealing with some bowel issues (TMI, I know) from all this, I'm feeling good. Carbs aren't NEAR a problem anymore. I stay fuller longer, and am really not as hungry during the day. Can't wait for my weigh-in on Tuesday.