My 68 Day Challenge; Whole 30 Day 9

The authors of the Whole30 say that most people give up on days 10 and 11.  The novelty has wore off, food fatigue, temptation.  A whole lot of reasons.  Being on Day 9 it doesn't feel like I'm ready to quit tomorrow or the next day.

How are you doing on your 2016 goals?  Need some motivation?  ET always does it for me.  Check out this video



Making the Whole30 fun by being able to be creative has been our focus.  By just focusing on making it through each day until you get to 30, I could see how you might give up.  If you focus on trying new things and being creative then you look forward to each new experience and don't even count the day you're on.

I've never even eaten a chicken burger before.  That didn't stop us for cooking them up for today's brown bag lunch.

Chicken Burgers
Printable Version

My 68 Day Challenge; The Whole30

To successfully achieve a goal you should spend 80% of your time in planning to ensure that the 20% you spend executing can be done with excellence.  Planning on successfully completing the Whole30 program I started my planning by reading the book It Starts With Food.

After reading this book, with an open mind, I believe that adjusting your diet for 30 days can make you feel better, sleep better, think better, and perform better.  If you want to lose weight, that is an added benefit.

It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways by Dallas Hartwig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is absolutely fascinating.
To those who gave it very skeptical reviews, I ask . . .why did you buy this book in the first place? Did you not read the description first?
I will be gifting this book frequently.

View all my reviews

I'm doing the Whole30 as part of a great program sponsored by my employer The 68 Day Challenge.  It's open to the public.  Check it out!

My Whole30 Challenge

The top reason I have stayed with the same employer for over 20 years (dating myself) is that it is so great to work for a company with tremendous opportunity that encourages you to grow as a person.  Several years ago they made it even more fun to do so with the 68 Day Challenge.  Check it out here on Facebook:  The 68 Day Challenge.

The challenge I am taking on this year - the Whole30 Program.  30 days of cleaner eating for better health.  No grains, beans, dairy, added sugar, and alcohol for 30 days.  What is  attractive about this program?

Sober September

The sobering fact; I've put on 14 pounds since this time last year.

At a business meeting Friday someone said "LT you're looking thick"!  I know he meant it in a good way.  I'm sure of it.  But, for my type A self, it troubled me.

On the flip side, 14 pounds lighter, a different friend said "LT, you've got a great looking body . . . for an 8 year old boy". Ouch!

Somewhere in between "thick" and "boy body" is the answer.

The C Word, Facing Difficult Decisions With Cancer

No one wants to get that call from their physician asking them to come into the office to receive the bad

news.  I am sure, from the other end, they dread making those calls. 

I am not an expert.  I have no medical training or education, but I have had front row experience from the bleacher seats. I hope that you and no one you know receives the dreaded call, but if they do I hope that these 5 tips help.

1)  Find a doctor you trust and like.

Everyone you talk to will know someone.  They will recommend doctors, hospitals, advice.   "This one is the best", "I heard this one is the worst".  Unless they have had the same condition as you, stick with referrals from your physician.  Keep looking until you find someone you like and trust.  My husband really liked his doctor and I know that it has made a difference.

Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” 
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

My garden is my pride and joy.  I love being able to relax in the back yard with a different scene almost daily depending on what is in bloom.  Tucked away in the blooms are edible delights that almost look too pretty to eat.  Chives in the spring and fall, strawberries in early summer, blackberries in late summer, and herbs almost year round.

Not big on rum, a server at my old favorite restaurant (so sad that it is gone) talked me into ordering a blueberry mojito.  I have to say, it was fun summer awesomeness in a glass.  It was this morning's inspiration for our morning smoothie.

Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

Printable Version

Indoor Dinner Beach Party

"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter." ~Henry David Thoreau

This has been a long - no - the longest - coldest winter I can remember.  Looking forward to spring break and ready for the weather to turn we decided to bring our beach party inside for our family dinner night.

The menu:
Turkey burgers 2 ways
Baked Beans
Potato Chips
Kale Chips

For a beach party you can't forget the décor: beach decorations, paper plates, beach boys music, and of course, a beach ball.  We made up fun beach ball games around the dinner table. Here are several variations of our silly games.

Day 4 Losing 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks

One of the best time savers I have found is cooking once to eat many times.  Sometimes this means
making a gigantic pot of spaghetti sauce and portioning it out in tupperware to stow away in the freezer for many pasta nights to come.  Sometimes this means making simple dishes that can be spruced up or combined to make new exciting future meals in a snap.

This week I made polenta and roasted asparagus as

Mujadara, Rice and Lentils Recipe

Middle Eastern food is one of my favorite food groups.  I can eat it every day.  Although I enjoy cooking, I find that many of the recipes either require too many ingredients that I do not have or require way too much labor (chopping parsley for days).  Mujadara, however, is one of my favorites to make at home.  The ingredients and the instructions are basic and you can cook it once and eat many times.

Mujadara is a low calorie, low cost meal packed with health benefits.  This recipe is super easy to make (except that I have a tendency to burn instead of caramelize the onions). I love to make it as a side dish for dinner and then enjoy the left-overs as a main course for lunch.  Dr. Oz lists lentils as one of the best anti-aging super foods and here's more on the 7 Health Benefits of Lentils.

 

Printable Version
3 onions
1 bag lentils
1 c long grain brown rice
6 cups low sodium veggie or chicken stock
1/2 Tbs. cumin
salt
pepper
olive oil

cut 1 onion into 1/2 inch pieces
heat olive oil in frying pan
caramelize onion (cook until dark brown, but careful not to burn)
remove from pan and set aside

Dice remaining 2 onions
Cook diced onion in olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat until soft, 2-3 minutes

6 Pounds of Chicago

My problem, when it comes to diet and exercise, isn't knowing what is right and wrong and isn't even the lack of having a good plan.  It's that I posses no discipline. Zip, zero, zilch.  Berta, the 300 pound Italian girl inside me, Berta, always wins out when there are tasty treats about.

I headed out for two weeks of business travel.  I packed up apples, halos, and granola bars.  I cut up celery sticks, cucumbers, and carrots.  My iPod was loaded with awesome workout tunes and I packed up an extra bag just for sneakers, sports bras, and running gear.

The plan: eat well, exercise daily, and use these two weeks of business travel to amp up physically.

The reality: 

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

You won't believe this is only 300 Calories 

"Sitting down for dinner not only helps you learn, but also teaches you how to listen - which I feel is the most important skill to have. I remember as a kid going around the table listening to everyone's day. It was hard to have the manners not to interrupt back then."

Michael Symon

Craving a home cooked meal, but too pooped to slave in the kitchen I created this super easy, amazingly delicious dish.  Whip up a couple of quick sides and people will think you were cooking all day.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

Printable version

8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin removed
1 box low sodium chicken broth (4 cups)
1 lemon, sliced
1 33 oz. jar whole artichoke hearts in water, water drained
1/4 c. chopped italian parsley
 2 Tbs. olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Purple Power - Antioxidant Smoothie

Smoothies are an excellent way for hiding veggies from 9 year old boys who won't eat them any
other way.  The trick is keeping your smoothie recipe from turning sludgie yucky brown and looking like swamp water.  Here's a recipe that stays purple (ish) keeping the mass amounts of spinach in it your secret.

The 4 Hour Body

My friend's enthusiasm over this book, The 4 Hour Body, interested me enough to download it the same day.  He was geeked, and rightfully so.  He attributed techniques in the book to losing double digit pounds in 14 days.  For a tall and naturally thin person this is quite a feat.  As a health conscious person, always looking for ways to improve, I was intrigued.

I downloaded the book on Audible and listened to it in it's entirety in less than a day.  I was not hooked by all of the great tips that I couldn't wait to put into practice.  I was hooked by the bizarreness of it.  Much like you can't take your eyes off of a creepy movie, I listened to nearly 4 hours of weirdness.

Practices I will put into place from 4HB:

Never Flip an Omelet Again; The Best Omelet Recipe

I brown bag it when it comes to lunch on work days.  I find that I have NO discipline when eating out.  Restaurants may have healthy offerings, but Berta, the 300 pound Italian girl inside me, always wins out when making a selection.

My eat healthy AND stay happy philosophy is not to be good 100% of the time so when asked out to lunch I will occasionally say "yes."  Coworkers and I went to a diner and when the plates arrived at our table there were "oohs" and "ahhs" and "how do they make the omelets look like that"? 

Brown Pow, Antioxidant Smoothie

I am blessed to have an artist for a husband whose creativity carries over into the kitchen.  He whipped up this amazing smoothie for us this morning.  The color was not very attractive, but if you close your eyes it's extremely yummy.  Our 9 year old won't eat most vegetables without a fight.  This recipe is great for kids, like him, who won't eat their veggies.  Even the pickiest eaters won't detect that the spinach is in there.

 Printable Version

Surf and Turf, A Delicious and Nutritious Smoothie Recipe

Our kids in the ocean with a shark, Jamaica

Spring break to Jamaica was one of my family's favorite vacations.  The weather - perfect; the pool -
perfect; the beach - rocky, but perfect; the food - amazing; swimming with the dolphins - unforgettable!  Our all inclusive resort had fresh fruit at every meal.  Dinner had a fruit carving station.

Vampire Venom, An Antioxidant Rich Smoothie

This morning we decided to create a new concoction in our Vitamix mixer.  I had the last bit of a pineapple to use, but I wanted to try something different than Kermit Juice.  I asked my 9 year old what color should it end up.  Begin with the end in mind, right?  He shouted out "red". OK, red it is.

Kermit Juice

This is a recipe for a smoothie so we use our Vitamix blender to make it.  I wanted to call it "Kermit in a Blender", but my family talked me out of it.  Just wait, when I come up with a recipe that comes out of the blender green and red it already has a name.

Pinklicious Power Juice

 

We spend most of our time in the kitchen.  Cooking, hanging out, talking, bonding as a family. I am lucky to have grown up in an Italian family of great cooks and even luckier to have married a man who loves cooking.  Food has a way of bringing us together.

The Business of Running Marathons

I had a 19 mile training run yesterday which gave me a lot of time to think.  What I found was a great connection between activities that make me more successful at sports also make me better at work as well.

After every downhill will be an uphill.

Your current situation may seem  tough.  Even downright impossible.  You may feel like quitting altogether.  Hang in there.  Remember why you started in the first place.  Put your focus on your "why".  What motivated you and excited you in the beginning?  This will keep you going when it gets tough and help you dig deeper to get through the rough spots.  It will get better or you may find that you don't have a "why" and this is wrong for you altogether.  The uphill in that situation is that you will know it is time to move on to the next thing.