Day 3

Today was a rough day.  Jack was awake for 5 hours overnight and I had a fever all day.  We are all sick right now and it feels like a bad time to do this challenge, but I'm pushing through.  

I didn't feel like having much breakfast but I had some soup.  For lunch too.

Dinner was a hot dog, sweet potato, and sauerkraut.  I'm already hungry as I type this so I know I didn't eat enough today.  Hopefully we are all feeling better tomorrow and I can do some more food prep!

Looking forward to day 4 and feeling better!

My Third Day 2

Woke up this morning not thinking about coffee for the first time in awhile.  I'm enjoying my tea.  I like it really hot though and it seems to cool off so fast, I need to put it in a travel mug but not sure I'm ready to deal with the association of my mug and my coffee that used to travel in there.  I cooked up some sausage links and made sweet potatoes in the oven (I had more than two sausage links, ate a couple while I was making them).  I also had a little bowl of chicken broth. 

Jack woke in the middle of the night with a fever and a cough.  We were resting and watching a show and he threw up all over.  This morning he was pretty sick and I felt a little crummy so I wanted to have a nice breakfast.  Jack ate some of my carrots from my soup and a couple bites of sausage.  At least he has an appetite.  

For lunch today I reheated those chicken legs that were under cooked in the oven for 15 more minutes.  I also had some more sweet potato, sauerkraut and broccoli.  By the time I finished getting my lunch ready, jack was crying and tired so I had to kinda scarf it down.  Even though I spend time prepping my food it takes a good amount of time to warm it up!  

During lunch today I prepped our pulled pork that was going to be for dinner.  I made some cauliflower to go with mine.  I was going to make a salad but needed to wash the lettuce and jack was not cooperating at the time.  I have some leftover pork to have for lunch the next day or so!

I'm enjoying all the veggies that I'm eating.  Sometimes it seems I'm eating the same stuff over and over again but it feels too risky for me to try other things.  Maybe once I start to heal I will branch out a little more.  I had grapes for dessert.  

I look forward to reading my Day 3 email in the morning.  I'm really proud of myself for sticking with this another day.  At one point I said maybe I should start over when I'm feeling better.  But immediately after I thought that I decided now more than ever it's important to eat clean because sugar feeds viruses.  I'll recover faster if I eat healthier foods.

Day 3 here I come!

Day 1 is in the Bag....Bam!

I'm happy to report I completed day 1 perfectly!  Meal 1 (they suggest you call it meal 1, 2 and 3 to break the stereo-type that toast, cereal and pancake like things should be consumed for breakfast) was chicken soup.

For lunch I had more leftover Italian beef...happy to say that is finally gone.  I think I ate that everyday for a whole week.  Broccoli, cauliflower, and sauerkraut went with.  

Dinner was a large salad with cucumbers and Italian tessemae's salad dressing, sauerkraut and 2 BBQ chicken legs.  My first couple bites though I discovered that the chicken wasn't quite cooked enough so I had a hot dog instead.

 For snack I had some raisins and after dinner I had grapes and hot tea.  

I'm extra proud of myself because I resisted putting forbidden foods in my mouth during a super stressful day.  I couldn't find my drivers license anywhere, eli was feeling sick, and jack was super crabby.  I tore apart my whole car looking for it and no luck :(.  I got some extra cleaning done though that was a positive.  

Glad day 1 is over.  I really enjoyed the supportive email I got from the Whole 30

Third Time's the Charm?

Have you been wondering where I've been? (Hiding from you!)  Friday (day 3) I was too tired to blog and Saturday (day 4), I decided to have some coffee.  I talked myself into a little bit of cream and sugar.  Then I had a second cup.  Then a bit of cheese...and a cookie.  Geez who am I kidding?!  I can't seem to make it past day 3!!  

Well.  I'm giving it one. more. try....this month anyway.  I'm determined to do it no matter how many tries it takes.  A little embarrassed I keep falling off the wagon in front of everyone though :) 

So what's going to be different this time around?  I've signed up (paid) for the Whole 30 Daily.  Every day you get an email of things to expect, withdrawls you might be going through, encouragement, tips, and tough love <----yeah I need help with that last part!  I'm really hoping they help.  I got an email today (day 0) and it already has some links to fellow bloggers that wrote about their experiences, videos, and some useful worksheets.

It's very challenging going through this alone.  I know they have forums online and the community is great, but it's a different story when I'm making 3 meals a day for 3 other members of my family and everything looks so tasty!

I also took my before photo today which I hadn't done yet.  I've also made a deal with myself that when I finish the challenge, I'm going back to my blonde hair color!  I've been missing it and I think that will be a good way to celebrate.  I don't want to celebrate with cupcakes or donuts and send myself spiraling downward again.  

This challenge is NOT about weight loss for me (I won't complain if I lose some inches though!).  The reason I am doing the challenge is to find out which foods are still aggravating my psoriasis.  When I started doing research to find natural remedies and/or cures for psoriasis and stumbled upon Paleomom.com, everything I read made sense to me.  It was very overwhelming to read everything I would have to eliminate though to maybe see some improvement!  Eliminating dairy, gluten, legumes, grains, sugar and processed foods.  People with autoimmune conditions (that's me) should also stay away from eggs, nuts and seeds, and nightshades (coffee, tobacco, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes).  I'm already allergic to half of those things so that's not too hard!  I don't know if it will ever go away completely, but I have learned a lot about how food nourishes our bodies and ultimately can heal our conditions. 

I am also hoping the challenge helps with the inflammation I have in my back and neck, causing me to get tension headaches a few times a week.

Well time to wrap it up.  Here's a throw back selfie for you (probably 3 years ago).  Really hoping to be a blonde by Valentines Day!

Whole 30 Day 2

Really wanted some coffee this morning. Jack was up a lot last night (teething and stuffy nose) and I had a pounding headache from my terrible neck pain.  But instead I made myself some tea and warmed up my breakfast, chicken soup again.  Yum.

We had a few errands to run today including going to the chiropractor to fix my terrible headache.  When we got home I warmed up some of that yummy roast from last night.  Jack was really tired and ready to nap so I only had a minute to eat something.  Normally I would have made some sweet potato or other veggie.  The roast was SO good.

I decided to have it for dinner too.  JR and Eli went to the Thunder game tonight  so I didn't have to make them dinner!  Instead I spent some time doing some more veggie prep for the weekend, cooked up some sauerkraut, chopped more broccoli and cauliflower, and made the spaghetti squash.  I cleaned out the squash, scooped out the seeds, coated it in ghee, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and popped it in the micro for 10-12 mins.  It came out perfect!  I've never had it before.  Very mild taste. 

Dinner was Italian beef on top of spaghetti squash with sauerkraut and broccoli.  Best part of this meal?  Jack joined me and tried it all!!

Yum Mommy!  I love the broccoli best!!

Day 2 done!!

Whole 30 Day 1, Take 2

Today went well!  I'm over not having my coffee now so I think that sets a better tone for the rest of the day.  Not the "boo hoo I can't have my coffee so now I'm so deprived and all I want to do is shove everything in my mouth I'm not supposed to eat" kinda tone 😉.  

For breakfast I made some bacon for the boys and I had a couple of slices to go with half a sweet potato and tea.  I have some more cooking/prep to do tomorrow.  That's the big thing with eating this way....prep!  I don't want to be scrambling when I'm starving and eat something I shouldn't.  

I got to enjoy a little nap today (45 mins) so lunch was a little late.  I was busy preparing dinner also so we ended up eating around 2:30.  I made taco seasoned ground beef.  JR had his in taco shells and I had mine salad style.  I put some salsa on top and cut up half an avocado.  I try to stick to the same veggies I know are safe.  I don't really want to branch out too far and end up with an upset tummy.  The avocado kinda bothered me so I may not have it again.  Bummer.  It was yummy.

We didn't really get too hungry for dinner but around 9 o'clock I warmed up some chicken soup.  Hit the spot.  

It's 10pm and I still have my rump roast in the crockpot....almost 8 hours now.  It's a tougher cut of meat that I've never used before but it's less expensive than other cuts so I thought I'd try it.  I didn't realize it would have to cook this long.  Glad I didn't plan on having this for dinner!  It's Italian style and I'm going to try making a spaghetti squash tomorrow to go along.

Day 1 done!!