Whole 30: Week 1 Recap

Hey hey!  How was everyone's winter break?  Ours was glorious!  Filled with tons of playing, friends, family and art.  The kids and I were both bummed when Monday morning rolled around and they had to go back to school.

The other thing that as quite the bummer about Monday was Mark and I starting the Whole 30.  Are you familiar with it?  It's basically 30 days of eating nothing processed, no dairy, grains, soy (or legumes of any kind), MSG, or anything that tastes delicious.  The point of it is to 'reset' your system, relearn how to eat the way nature intended (eating until satiety, instead of engorgement), and to just generally feel better.  We've done this once before, 2 years ago, and both loved the way that we felt, so we decided to do it again!

We started on January fifth, so today is day 8 for us.  I feel like I'm finally turning the 'bloated, withdrawing from sugar/carbs' hump, and am feeling good!  I've also made my way back to the gym, where I am spending way too much time working on my upper body.  I'm only cleared from the ribcage up, so I'm basically turning these shoulders into boulders, and I'm trading in my boobs for pecs.  Sexy, like a man.  Anyways.  I've made some super delicious recipes this week, and wanted to share my top 3 with you guys!

Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash 

(Recipe from Make With Your Hands)

Ingredients:
1 whole butter nut squash (3 c. cubed)
2 tbs. coconut oil (melted)
1/2 tbs. dark cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbs. fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Toss squash, coconut oil & cinnamon together until all of the squash is thoroughly coated with oil and cinnamon.  Lay the butternut squash on a parchment lined baking sheet, or silpat and bake for 35 minutes.  Pull it out of the oven and  immediately toss with the nutmeg and pepper.  Put it back on the baking sheet and allow it to cool.

Seriously, this is delicious.  Use the full TBSP of pepper.  The nuttiness of the nutmeg, combined with the spiciness of the pepper and the sweetness of the cinnamon is an unreal combination.

Chipotle Meatballs  

(Recipe from Health-Bent)

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat (we used beef)
1/4 c almond flour
2 eggs
1 T chipotle adobo sauce 
1 t dried oregano
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
salt

For the Sauce

1 c chicken stock
15 oz can tomato sauce
1-2 finely diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce or you could use just sauce
2 t dried oregano
2 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs, and roll into small, 1.5 inch x 1.5 inch balls.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  While the meatballs are cooking combine all ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and allow to simmer until it reaches desired thickness.  We served these over roasted spaghetti squash with a side of avocado, because this is a spicy recipe!  The original recipe serves it with a side of guacamole.

These meatballs are delicious!  But, our favorite part about them is the sauce.  Because you can't have ketchup or BBQ sauce on the Whole 30, things sometimes seem a bit dry.  This sauce is the perfect solution!  

Bulletproof Coffee

Ok, let's talk about this one.  I was nervous about it too.  It crossed my radar a long time ago, and I immediately thought "Yuck! Hell to the no!"  But, I decided that I needed to woman up, and give it a go, and I am so thankful that I did!  That first day that I tried it I was like the freaking energizer bunny.  I could not sit still!  Which was kind of a bummer, because my bursitis was CRAZY bad, and it hurt me to move, and I couldn't bring myself to sit still.  I didn't make true bulletproof coffee because I'm not having dairy, and the real recipe calls for butter.  Anyways, give it a try!  

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Coconut Oil (virgin coconut oil gives a stronger flavor, so if you don't like coconut just look for regular coconut oil)

1 cup of brewed coffee.

Directions

In a blender combine the coffee and oil and blend until frothy.  I used an immersion blender in my cup, because I hate doing dishes.

Let me know if you have any questions!  These are my top 3 recipes, but I made SO many more!  Missing all of my food posts on Instagram?  Don't fret, I made a new account, just food and fitness related.  Follow me @kendalgetsfit. 

Sunday Funday!

I have this shirt, and I'm trying really hard to love it.  It's soft, and cozy, and a little bit big, and really really comfortable.  But, it's a flannel plaid, and I'm fairly certain that I look like a lumberjack in it.  In fact, I bet that if I were to go to Home Depot right now they'd look at me and be like "Nah, she doesn't need any help, she's got this." To make matters worse I'm currently using a pencil to keep my hair up in a bun, because why not?  This is why you try on clothes before you buy them.

Speaking of buying, I am feeling so jaded by this Christmas season.  This morning Mark and I took the kids to see Big Hero 6 (totally adorable, and worth going to see), and there was an entire preview where every Disney character was asking a kid "What'dya get?"  Seriously?  Ridiculous.  I'm so over Disney right now that it's also ridiculous, but that's another post for another time.  Anyways, back to my point.  This Christmas break the kids and I are going to focus on acts of service, and giving our time to people who aren't as lucky as we are.  We are going to sit down and brainstorm one to two things each that we can accomplish.  Anyone have any ideas?  I was thinking the SPCA for Cam, and something involving the Sacramento Children's House for Reese.  

Oh my gosh!  I finally did it.  I stepped on the scale for the very first time post surgery.  It is seriously the most nerve wracking thing ever!  I've been wanting to do it for weeks, but it stresses me out so badly that I have to do it in a quick wave of courage.  Scales should cause 100% less anxiety than this.  Anyways, I was so pleasantly surprised!  I've lost 4 pounds since surgery, which puts me at 134lbs.  You know what that means?  I've officially lost 20lbs since May 1st!  I realize that it's 6 months, and that the bulk of that weight was lost in the first 9 weeks, however, what I'm most excited about is that I haven't yo-yo'd!  I've maintained or slowly lost.  This has totally motivated me to get back to meal prepping, and IIFYM.  

I'm trying to start shifting my meals to be more Whole30 compliant now, so that when I start it (on Jan 1st, join me!) I don't go through major carb withdrawals.  I still haven't bit the bullet and tried Bulletproof Coffee, but I want to.  I just get so sad at the thought of only starting my day with one cup of coffee.  I don't even think that I turn into a nice person until I reach the bottom of my second cup. And, that's a lot of butter.  Have you tried it?  Let me know what you think of it!

Tuesday Ramblings

Parenting is like walking a tight rope sometimes.  You love your kids more than anyone in the world, and you genuinely see the best in them 99% of the time, which leaves you in a serious pickle when you notice that they really suck at something.  So the thing is, Reese loves to sing.  We used to joke when she was little that she lived her life like a Disney Princess, always in song.  But homegirl can't sing.  At all.  This morning she was belting out Taylor Swift and I was so sure that the dogs were going to start howling it was that bad.  She does this weird, deep, man voice.  I can't even describe it so just know that it's painful.  But, how do I tell her that?!  I'm her mom, and I think that the sun shines out of her little booty, so if I think it's bad can you imagine what other people think?  And here's the thing, I don't care if she belts out tunes at home, or with her girlfriends, or anywhere else for that matter.  Singing and dancing is fun!  But I mean, I have to interfere before she goes on American Idol.  I don't ever want her to feel public humiliation.

Or, maybe she sings beautifully and it's just the carb withdrawals making me think that it's awful.  Probably not, though.  But onto the carb withdrawals, with the exception of Friday night I've been keeping my carbs at or below 100 grams.  It is so tough!  I know that I don't need a ton of carbs right now because I'm doing nothing that requires energy, but man oh man do they taste delicious.  I think that I might start Wednesday Weigh Ins again, just to stay on track.  It's too easy to lie to yourself, ya know?

I'm gearing up for the Whole30.  I think I'm going to focus on making a month long menu and grocery list, and try to get some of the breakfast foods cooked & frozen so that I can offset the cost in January.  Oh, and to be super prepared too.  Totally.  If you're going to do it with me, I'm reading the book It Starts With Food, so hopefully I go into it with a clearer head this time.  Last time I did it it was because Paleo was cool, now I just know that my system needs a reboot, and I wonder if it will help with the leftover bursitis in my right hip.  We shall see!

My Husband is a Rockstar

Oh man, one blog post a week just isn't going to cut it.  Last week was CRAZY here!  The big kids started school, and they are both having such a great experience.  Reese started third grade, and this is the first year in a while that she has started with friends in her class.  She was super stoked to start school, and, we're four days in and she hasn't cried about waking up once.  She hates mornings like you wouldn't believe, so no tears is amazing.  Camden started kindergarten, and he's doing well.  At least that's what they're telling me (insert winking emoji).  After school on the first day I go to pick him up, and we find out there was a minor 'crossing of streams' incident, and he ended up peeing on a friend.  Yikes.  But, we haven't heard of any other problems, so we are just going to call that a case of first day jitters and hope that our first full week goes smoothly.  

I also went with a few friends to see the Rascal Flatts concert, and it was such a great time!  Almost as good as the people behind us.  Ha!  Let me tell you, if you're going to whisper dirty things in the hot girls ear you should first be sure of two things. 

1.  You should be sure that you're the guy she's going to go home with, and not your good buddy.

2.  You should be sure that you are, in fact, whispering.

It was so crazy!  Every time I turned around it was like couple swap.  The first time it was plaid shirt guy and sleeveless vest guy dirty dancing.  The second time it was sleeveless vest guy and black dress girl basically needing a room.  The third time it was plaid shirt guy and black dress girl all over each other.  I'm curious as to who went home with who that night.  If I could redo the night I would definitely have worked my way into the friend group just to get the gossip.

 In other news, I am having some major pre surgery anxiety.  I feel like a walking, talking basket case.  It's not even the surgery itself that scares me, it's the recovery.  It's a big recovery process, and it requires me basically handing over my entire job to Mark.  You know, my husband who also has a full time job.  I'm nervous for him.  I do a lot of stuff during the day/evening, and he has to take it all on, and it's basically the equivalent of a full time job.  So I guess for the next few weeks he will have two full time jobs.  The past week he has been such a rockstar.  Every time I feel myself getting nervous he's there, he's totally done every project that needs to be finished, and is overall being so supportive, and it really is giving me the confidence to feel like these next few weeks are going to be great, and that he will be able to handle it.  I am so lucky to have someone so supportive in my life.

Onto meal prep.  Blah.  Here's my plan.  I need healthy lunches for the next two days.  Wednesday and most likely Thursday I will be in the hospital, and Friday I can figure out something (you know, like sending Mark out to get me Thai food).  So, for lunch I will make ground turkey with steamed broccoli and squash, in Rotel.  It kind of looks like vomit, but tastes so good.

For dinner I have tonight worked out, tomorrow is a mystery, Wednesday I will be in the hospital, and Thursday and Friday will come from my freezer, for sure.  Tonight is so good, and so simple!  Do you guys ever eat chicken sausage?  I love the Alfresco brand, and they have tons of different types.  So, tonight is going to be crazy busy, and I am going to have to make dinner late, and it needs to be quick.  I sauté up the chicken sausage with peppers and onions, and serve it over noodles with parmesan for the kids, and just plain for Mark and I.  I usually eat two links because the protein is kind of low on only one,  and it's still super low in calories and carbs.

This is getting long, I'll wrap it up.  Mondays are the best because it's a fresh start.  Screw how badly you did this weekend, celebrate your wins and keep going on that high.  

Everything in Moderation....Even Panic

So this weekend it kind of dawned on me that we are in the teens for number of days before my surgery, and I freaked out.  Not in a 'let's clean every surface that we can find' kind of way, more like a 'cry and eat all the food that I see' kind of way.  Obviously that isn't conducive to my weight loss goals, so I need to let go of what happened this weekend and really just move on to tackling things that I can get sorted out now, and focusing on the positive.

Back to this weekend.  We were crazy busy, as we always are, and I was so unprepared with food.  Friday morning the nerves started creeping in, but I kept it together, ate healthy, and allowed myself a cheat of pie and ice cream for dessert.  I figured that would be enough to keep me happy through the weekend.  Ha!  What a fool I was.  Saturday Reese officially started cheer, and we spent all day out at a football field in a town over an hour away.  What I should have done was spend Friday evening prepping chicken, turkey and salad and packed myself a really healthy day.  What I actually did was have two coffees, skip eating and then go over to friends house for a BBQ and eat all of the chips and salsa that I could get my hands on.  Obviously, that went terribly for me.  On the upside, Reese might be the cutest cheerleader ever.  Here's a picture of her squad, clearly I make children that don't grow.

(Yes, that is her in the center.)

Sunday was no less chaotic.  Cam had BMX all morning, and then we had to head to the grocery store so that we could do little things, like eat this week.  I started my day off with a coffee, skipped breakfast and then went to Panera for lunch.  I don't need to go into the details about how dinner was also a diet flop.  

One huge thing that happened on Sunday night was a drinking opportunity.  I took August off of booze with my sister and a few girlfriends, and almost everyone hasn't made it.  I mean, we're 11 days in and I'm pretty sure only two of us have abstained from having a drink.  So, my nerves are frayed, I've been busy all weekend, and Sunday night I get to my mother in law's house and find one of my favorite bottles of wine in her fridge.  I decide to just go for it.  One glass, and I'll be done.  I open it up, pour my sister in law and brother in law's girlfriend a glass, and one for myself.  I sit there and look at it, and in that moment I decided that it wasn't worth it.  I made a commitment to friends, and most importantly, to myself that I was going to take this month and have no booze all of the way through.  It felt like such a huge win.

And this brings us to today, I'm letting go of all of the fails this weekend and I'm getting back on track.  Yesterday I bought a bunch of good stuff, meal prepped and set myself up for success this week.  

Ground turkey might be the key to everything.  Cook it up, season it well and eat it on everything.  It has TONS of lean protein, no carbs and low fat.  I could go on and on, but we will just leave it at that for now. 

This week for dinner we are keeping it super simple.  I need to start freezer cooking so that I can have some sort of a meal plan for after surgery, so I want to try out a few recipes for taste this week, and then if they're good freeze them over the weekend.

Monday: Honey Apricot Chicken. (This one is a freezer cooking test)

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos.

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken

Thursday: Chicken Stir Fry

Friday: Pizza.  So unique, I know.

This much chicken makes me wish that I liked fish. 

Oh my gosh.  The funniest Camden conversation happened with Camden this weekend.  He is such a sassy little thing!  He asked for an apple, and we gave it to him, and he ate a few bites and wanted to switch to chips.  Well, this homie don't play that way, and we do not waste food.  You take it, you eat it.  Obviously I refused to let him switch snacks, which then led to this conversation:

Camden: "Well I'm gonna call 991 and tell them that I don't even have any parents."

Me: "Well then the police will put you in jail for lying to them."

Camden: "Well then I would be freaking scared!"

I was CRACKING UP after that conversation.  Oh, and before you wonder, yes, we talked about how freaking scared is not an appropriate thing for a five year old to say.  He then told me that it was because it's how he would feel.  Sassy I tell you.  

p.s. I totally forgot to mention this, but I am rocking getting dressed every day!  AND, I'm still not pregnant! #winning 

p.s.s. The pregnant thing is a joke, because if you watched Desperate Housewives, Lynette got pregnant. 

Meal Prep Monday....The Tuesday Edition

So, I'm feeling rather frumpy these days.  I lost 15lbs in 9 weeks, and literally nothing that I own fits me.  All of my favorite shirts hang weird, and honestly, I bought them when I didn't feel that awesome about myself, so they make me look like I'm part bag lady, part 500lbs.  I need to fix this, like yesterday.  I've been watching for good deals on jeans (size 28/29 HOLLA!) and scooping those up when I can, but it has still left me totally empty handed for shirts.  I was online shopping yesterday like "Ooooh!  I need that, and that, and that AND THAT!" But, I plan on this being a temporary size, and I need cute clothes that don't hide all of my hard work, but that I also don't drop a grip load on.  I grabbed a few online that should come in within the next week, which will hopefully help me get through the slump, and then I'll just keep my eye out for good deals at The Rack.  Also, I found the cutest shirt there the other day, but the kids were being crazy and I was just done shopping, so I totally skipped it and I've been kicking myself ever since!  Don't you hate that?  Ugh, such a drag.

One other thing that I really need to kick into high gear is getting dressed every day.  I mean, I don't wear my pajamas all day, but I do rock yoga pants at least 99% of the time.  Did you ever watch that episode of Desperate Housewives where Lynette and her husband had sex for 30 straight days to fall back in love?  That's how I feel with clothes.  Maybe if I put jeans on for 30 straight days I won't hate putting jeans on at the end of it.  I mean, as long as I don't end up pregnant it's a real win either way.

Back to the matter at hand.  I swear, yesterday came and went, and I feel like I blinked and I missed it!  It was our first 'at home' day in almost a week and a half, and aside from grocery shopping and cheer we really did just stay home. The kids were so happy, and it went so well we went ahead and decided to spend the rest of the week doing as close to nothing as possible.  I'm a real giver like that.  Anyways, lets talk about meal prep Monday, the Tuesday edition.  Along with being gone all week last week I also ate out all week last week.  I feel like a slug from putting all of that garbage into my body and my face has broken out!  So these next few weeks before surgery I am focusing hardcore on diet and water.  I feel so much better when I put good food into my body, and my skin glows so hard it basically rivals the sun when I get my gallon of water in a day.

My girlfriend is AMAZING and brought me all of these squash and cucumbers!  It was a serious score.  So, everything that I prepped this week includes either or both of those ingredients.

(such a blurry picture, I was basically shaking with excitement!)

I decided to go simple this week, because that's the goal around these parts, and just sautéed a bunch of squash, added it to seasoned ground turkey and called that the start of lunch!  Breakfast will always be egg whites.  I hate the taste of eggs, so the whites usually just absorb whatever flavor is around them.  Otherwise, the rest of my meals will be even easy-peasier.  Fiber One for my morning snack (hide your jealousy, I dare you), ground turkey over a sweet potato for lunch, a granola bar of some sort afternoon snack and then my previously posted meal plan for dinner.  Geeze, if I keep all of my weeks this simple I might as well change the title of this blog to The Real Mrs. Cleaver!  I'm totally in the market for a homemade, protein packed, granola bar.  If you've got any amazing ones pass them my way, please.  

Sunday Funday

....or what used to be Sunday Funday, now it's all about meal planning.  Do you ever feel like you're drowning in kids activities, constantly shuffling one kid to one side of town while the other kid has to be on the complete opposite side of town, at the exact same time?  I swear, at the end of some days I look back and think, 'how did I survive today?'  Well, let's be honest and say that some days I don't.  Some days we wind up in the Chik Fil A drive thru, and it's just a part of life.  Plus, their diet lemonade and Asian Salad is amazing, so it's almost totally fine.  But, on those days when I do have myself together it's because I meal planned, prepped and got dinner 95% done by 10 am, so that that night I just had to pop it on the BBQ or stove, or in the oven.  So, what's going on your plate this week?  Here's my meal plan, filled with lean proteins & veggies.  All grains are for the kids & Mark's enjoyment, because I just don't love going to bed weighed down with carbs.  I've included the calorie & nutrition breakdown for each main dish, but all of the sides are on you ;).  Before I jump to the list, add these macros in to your calorie counting app at the start of your day, and then plan your meal around it!  It makes eating through out the day a lot easier, and then you don't get to dinner and realize that you only have 100 calories, or 5g carbs & 10g protein left for the day.

Monday: Honey Lime Chicken Skewers.  I swear, if you've never tried these they need to be on your menu tonight!  I've used Sprite instead of lime, been out of cilantro, used half the honey, really, I've made every variation of these depending on what ingredients I had on hand, and every time it's turned out fantastic.  The *only* thing that I do differently is to skewer breast tenders instead of cubing the chicken, simply because it saves me time.

I mean, right?  If you can believe it, they taste even better than they look!

Tuesday: Cobb salad for Mark & I, and grilled cheese with fresh fruit and broccoli for the kiddos.  Go simple on your salad, you don't have to over complicate it by adding 17 ingredients, and skip out on dressing when you can.  I promise there is romaine lettuce under all of that deliciousness.  I didn't have the chicken on in this picture, but chicken marinated like this tastes AMAZING on top of this salad.  

(This breakdown DOES NOT include the chicken)

Wednesday: Tilapia & salad.  Yuck.  Mark & Reese love fish, and I'm sitting in the corner like "anyone wanna go to Chik Fil A?"  Anyways, I want Reese (and the other kids) to love fish, and all kinds of food, so even though I absolutely hate it, I go out of my way to buy frozen fish for them to enjoy.  I buy it frozen and pre seasoned, so all that I have to do is throw it on the grill (outside, obvi, so it doesn't stink up my entire house), whip up a quick salad an voila, dinner is done!  Which is awesome because on Wednesday nights, because Cam has soccer practice & BMX, and Reese has cheer practice, so I am quite literally, all over town.

Thursday:  Pork chops, Taylor Farms kale & brussels sprouts salad and baked sweet potatoes.  Mark is dying for them, and I've been slacking on them.  A little salt, pepper & BBQ sauce goes a long way with these, so they're super simple for me to make.  Have you guys tried this salad from Taylor Farms?!  Seriously.  It is delicious.  Even Mark, who absolutely hates kale AND brussels sprouts will eat this salad.  

I'm not adding the pork chop macro breakdown, because well, it's a pork chop.  Remember to weigh it, and measure how much BBQ sauce you smother on it.  BBQ sauce is high in carbs, so 

ADD IT AT THE START OF YOUR DAY!

Here is the macro breakdown for the salad sent straight from heaven (includes everything in the bag):

Friday: Pizza for the family, salad for me.  Friday's are my happy place.  No kids have any sports, the week is winding down, and for the first time in four days I feel like I can just breathe.  I have no interest in wasting one single second cooking, so I use some pre prepped chicken for me, and pick up a Little Caesars for the kids, and then spend the rest of the night watching a movie or playing a game.  

Hopefully your meal plan is as yummy as mine, and that your week is far less hectic!