Who knew diet food could taste like this?!

So normally when I start eating healthy I start feeling so deprived! I mean really, food tends to be bland.  I had the concept that if it tasted good, I probably couldn't or really shouldn't eat it. However I started researching some sites for gluten free and paleo diet approved recipes.  Mainly because Lazy was telling me that she has been receiving notes from people asking about recipes.  I was AMAZED when I started looking through some of them. I have to say I really like the site Paleo Diet Lifestyle.  The recipes on there seemed so unreal.  I already linked a few from this site, the Zucchini Cakes and the Pesto Mashed Potatoes.  Holy moly! I was looking at these pictures like...no way.  There is NO WAY these things are paleo approved! They look way way too delicious.  So I had to try them out. I invited the BF over for dinner, I had originally convinced him to go to the gym with me, but I got so hungry that I changed it to me cooking some new recipes (always a scary thought) and us eating a nice healthy dinner at home.  

I started out my adventure at Whole Foods.  Why go to all the trouble of eating 100% paleo with these recipes and not doing organic.  At least this time.  That and there were some things I wasn't sure I would be able to pick up at Safeway (although their organic food and gluten free selection is growing).  One of my new favorite finds is Ghee.  Its a butter that is acceptable on the Paleo Diet.  What?! Butter?! NO WAY! And let me tell you its tastes just fine. I had almost all the ingredients when the BF showed up at whole foods.  Perfect.  Just in time for my internal debate and struggle on which type of flour to buy.  The recipe called for Almond flower, but they were out.  Now I had to think about and pick from about 14 other types of flower that were all approved.  On a side note- I would really like to think that the reason Whole Foods was out of Almond Flour was because so many of you amazing fans read our blog and just had to run out and try this recipe as well.  I settled on Hazelnut Flour, I figured it was a nut and I like hazelnut, so hopefully the texture and taste would be okay with the recipe.  

Shredding Zucchini

potatoes cooking

I got home and started preparing everything.  I really am not that great of a cook, I fake it well though.  I really only know how to cook 3 or 4 things, I just rotate them and hope the people in my life do not get too bored with their food options.  After this let's make that 5-6 things I can make. These recipes were so easy! I started off with the zucchini cakes as I felt they would take the most time.  I shredded the zucchini and added the salt and let it sit as instructed.  While that was sitting I peeled and cut up the potatoes and got them in the boiling water to soften them up.   I switched over to the chicken, threw some seasoning, garlic into a bag and mixed it all up with the chicken.  That was going to get to sit for a bit to marinate. Had I been more prepared I would have started the chicken marinating hours prior. 

ready to de-water

Back to the zucchini.  I had to squeeze all the water out...Umm have you ever done this?! The recipe said I would be shocked by how much water came out. NO JOKE.  It was an endless supply of water! That got transferred back into the bowl once it was de-watered, and the final ingredients were added into the mix.  Back to the potatoes where I drained them.  Adding the Ghee and garlic into the pot to melt and infuse with each other.  Oil into another pan for the chicken. Lastly some ghee into a third pan for the zucchini.  I made the patties out of the zucchini mixture and once the ghee was melted and coating the pan, I threw some in.  Chicken on, then potatoes back into their pan and mashed.  I added the pesto into the potatoes, flipped the zucchini and then flipped the chicken. (Aren't you loving my play by play, hey I'm really impressed with my skills on this one okay?) A little coconut milk to make the potatoes fluffy. Zucchini cakes out of pan, next batch in.  Eventually I had everything done and the BF and I sat down to eat. 

Zucchini cakes in the pan

I was nervous.  Other than the chicken this was all relatively new to me.  Sure I have made mashed potatoes before but they normally include mass amounts of cheese and butter and sour cream and sometimes even cream cheese. No way these could taste good.  Yet...they were amazing.  I scarfed them down.  I waited for the BF to try the zucchini cakes.  Now zucchini is a new like to me in the last couple years.  I really did not care for the taste before then.  I wasn't so sure if I would like this or not.  He liked it, that was a good sign.  I tried them and they were so good I couldn't wait to go get another cake.  All that I could think about was how good this food was, and how I was somehow getting away with something for eating it all. I had seconds of the zucchini and the potatoes.  I ate a huge breast of chicken.  I was so mad at myself for overeating yet again.  I mean I just got back down after my last over eating attack at the Mexican restaurant.  This was going to be bad for both me and my waist line.  Yet the next more I had still lost a pound! NO WAY.  Delicious food, and a lot of it, and I can still lose weight?! This paleo diet really isn't going to be as hard as I thought to maintain.  

Some things I figured out while making these....The potatoes could have used more garlic.  I will be doubling it next time I make them. Also, there is so much importance to getting the water out of the zucchini.  I didn't get as much out as I probably could have and they did not cook up as much as in the picture from the recipe.  They fell apart easily as well.  I have made these again (last night with the help of my niece) and they came out so much better.   I added a bit more flower, and had M squeeze as much water as she could out.  

Finished Pesto Mashed Potatoes

Finished Zucchini Cakes

Paleo Diet Approved Meal

If you're looking for a great gluten free meal or a great paleo diet meal, this is it! I def will not combine the potatoes and the zucchini into one meal again (both were pretty rich) but I now know they are good! Try them out! Let me know how you like them, or any alterations you made to the recipes! 

Goodbye Cleanse.

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weight: 140 lbs

Last Week's Weight: ??

Starting Weight: 150 lbs

Loss this week: ??

Total Loss: 10 lbs

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2: Fatty

Weight: 158 lbs (Hello plateau.)

Last Week's Weight: 158

Starting Weight: 170 lbs

Loss this week: 0

Total Loss: 12 lbs

Goal: 135 (pounds to go: 23)

Wow first month down already?! Time has seriously flown by.  I feel pretty good.  Want to know how I know I'm feeling good? Because I did a little indulging and I felt sick! So sick.  That means the cleanse has worked.  I have all the bad stuff out of my system and now when I taste it, my body rejects it. I am on the right track with everything! Weight wise I am not where I had hoped to be but I am still making progress. I have been running pretty much ever day in training for the half marathon that is in just a few weeks.  Both Lazy and I have put some weight back on, I am hoping it is mostly because of the exercise and increased muscle.  However we have still made a lot of progress! 

Last night we spent time playing outside with the kids.  The kids rode their bikes, scooters, quads (we ran after them and chased balls down the street). Then we went inside for dinner.  My niece and I made the zucchini cakes from the recipe I shared.  This was my second time making them, and they turned out better than the first time! It was so great to be able to cook healthy with her.  This is why I want to change my lifestyle so badly, not just so I become healthy and lose weight, but so my daughter and niece and nephew see me making smart decisions and learning how to make them as well.  It was also great having an assistant that could help out, you know like squeezing all the water out of the zucchini, hey it feels all icky when I do it...why not let the kid "help"?  We sat down as a family, the kids ate (well M and H ate, my little decided that running around was more fun. Her loss, this was a great meal!)  We enjoyed chicken, zucchini cakes, and steamed veggies.  It was a great day. One of my favorite days in fact. 

I've joined some weight loss forums lately just to try to see what others are doing, and see if I can connect with others who are doing or have done a paleo diet and/or gluten free diet.  What I have come to realize is that I am so lucky to have a partner to help me stay on track and motivated.  Not only do I have Lazy Ass, but I have a really amazing BF that helps keep me on track.  When I get a craving, like that oreo cookie cake thing at chills the other night, he convinced me I really didn't want it, even though I kept telling him I did.  In the end I would have regretted it, and he knew it.  So my big suggestion this week for anyone who is working on this resolution of weight loss/ healthy lifestyle etc, find a friend/family member anyone to do it with you or at least support you in it.  It makes such a difference!

Chips-and-dip-aholic

Well I really did it....I went WAY off track last night.  Not completely off the diet/cleanse, but I way overate and I'm paying for it.

Let me set the scene for you, family dinner, birthday celebration, Mexican restaurant.  I love mexican.  I was nervous at first.  Last year when I did the cleanse I think I had way more self motivation.  If my family was going out to a restaurant last year, I would skip it unless it was on my approved restaurant list.  (There are really only like 2 in the area that I feel are okay to eat at during the cleanse.)  However last night I was weak.  It was Lazy's birthday and man I have been craving Mexican.

I had no idea what I could order...everything has dairy and I already had my dairy this week.  I have been trying to limit my dairy even though it was cleared for me to eat after the cleanse last year.  Looking over the menu I thought I found something safe- the taco salad, minus the sour cream.  I left the cheese on it as it is just a little bit sprinkled on the top.  Pinto beans, lettuce, chicken, tomatoes.  Not a bad meal to be honest.

However the chips were 100% corn.  You know what that means? GLUTEN FREE.  Chips are my downfall.  I'm a huge chips and dip girl.  I don't think you can really ever go wrong with chips and dip.  Some good restaurant corn chips with in house made salsa....the best of the chips and dip family.  I easily ate a basket of chips all by myself.  Then I demolished my salad.  It was like I had never seen food before. By the end of the meal I was SO STUFFED I thought I would literally explode.

Was it worth it? Normally I would say yes, I love food.  But this time I'm really disappointed with myself.  I had a goal to hit 155 before the end of this cleanse and I am not so sure it is going to happen now as I have gained some serious weight from my fun eating last night.  Hell it was really more like binge eating. Add that to the binge eating from Sunday's game and what has happened is I have really back tracked.  Why is my motivation so much different this year than last year?

To start to compensate for my Mexican downfall from last night I went out for a run this morning.  I started out with my brisk walk to warm up sent a quick text to lazy to let her know I was out being active.  (she always makes me feel so supported and excited to run.) And then I went to put on my carefully constructed playlist.....that apparently was no longer on my phone....along with all of my music which has magically disappeared since last night.  Except one album.  Glee's Christmas album.  Well.  Some music is better than none.  At least I thought it would be. There is just something about trying to run to Blue Christmas that just isn't right.  My pace was horrible, I was not pumped up.  In fact I just really wanted to get home, get under a blanket and start a fire in the fire place.  It was really not good music to run to.  I got two miles down at my standard 15/min/mile pace.  I did not burn near as many calories as I would have liked, but I am determined to at least get back to 158, if not 155 in the next few days.

Lazy mentioned continuing with the cleanse for another month.  Unfortunately you cannot take the pills and the PaleoCleanse for more than the 28 days, on the bright side you can do the cleanse ever few months.  So my goal will be to keep up with the diet (gluten free, sugar free, soy free etc) as long as possible now instead of just staying gluten free.  I need to make up some serious ground for last night.

What's Perfect?! End of Week 3 Weigh-in

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weight: ?? lbs (Dead Scale)

Last Week's Weight: 138lbs

Starting Weight: 150 lbs

Loss this week: ? lbs

Total Loss: 12 lbs

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2:  Fatty

Weight: 158 lbs
Last Week's Weight: 161 lbs
Starting Weight: 170 lbs
Loss this week: 3 lbs
Total Loss: 12 lbs
Goal: 135 (pounds to go: 23)

I have to say I am so excited I passed my week goal to get below 160!  TAKE THAT WHALE-TWIN hah! Although the problem is I was thinking 160 was going to be my plateau number.  Oh how wrong I was.  158 is the new 160.  I hit 158 on Wednesday.  Thursday 158.  Friday 158. Saturday 158.  SUNDAY 158.  I'm really getting sick of seeing this number.  Its starting to feel like some creepy horror movie. I think my scale has a sick sense of humor.  I mean I would really even settle for 157.9 at this point just to get rid of this number that is in my nightmares now.  My goal for this final week of the cleanse is to get to 155.  I am really hoping I can make it and based on my weight loss of the last few weeks it is attainable.

So Lazy Ass just talked about how amazing I have been during this, and I am so flattered. However I am no where near perfect with this cleanse! I have had my moments where I have eaten things I know I shouldn't (can we have those crazy wave things and have a flash back moment to where I went on about how I JUSTIFIED the french fries because they were potatoes and olive oil?)  And I can guarantee today is going to be a serious cheat day.  Why? it's game day, I'm at a party and I only have so much self control.  However I will NOT be having gluten.  That is my big goal this year is to keep gluten out of my diet as long as possible.

During the classes we tool last year with a nutritionist along with our cleanse, we learned that the removal of most of these things during the cleanse is to partially find out if you are allergic or intolerant to them.  We were told if you find out you are not allergic or intolerant to lactose, that it is okay to have dairy next time you do the cleanse.  Last time I had NO issues when dairy was slowly added back into my diet.  This time I knew it would be okay to have some dairy, and that has been my main cheat.  Once a week I have had something with cheese.  Today will be my cheat day.  I will be making nachos and they will have cheese.  Everything else on them will be gluten free and go along with the cleanse.  It however does not go along with my 3 shake a day plan as I will be snacking on actual food all day.

I think one of the important things for both Lazy Ass and I is that we are not perfect.  No on is.  We are real people struggling every day with decisions and temptation.  Some days we will be great and will be able to say no.  Other days we might waiver and end up with eating something we know we shouldn't have.  But what this whole experience comes down to is we are learning.  We have a year long goal to be healthier.  This is only the first month. We both have 11 more to figure out how to work our goals into our life styles.  To think that we could be PERFECT from day one and never have any issues is insane! Learning to live with our temptation and giving in just enough so we can learn balance is what I am hoping we both can take out of this experience.  There will always be parties and cake. And sometimes I think its okay to have your cake and eat it too, in moderation.

This brings us to the last week of the cleanse.  However this is not the last week of our journey. This last week continues the goal of 3 shakes a day. On Saturday we are going to be heading to The Counter in Walnut Creek for our first victory lap.  It has been a long 3 weeks, and this last week will bring more challenges.  Come join us on Saturday for good food at affordable prices!