week two begins.

I'm on my second week of the Whole Living 28-Day Challenge and I feel stupendous!  I am happy and proud to say that I have not cheated once.  The only thing I did (after much research) is eat oatmeal.  Oatmeal, by itself, does not contain any gluten...but it is processed in a plant that does.  So it is not recommended that people with celiac disease consume oatmeal.  Whole Living recommends that you abstain from this grain during week one if you have a gluten allergy, but said that it's okay if you know you do not.  I definitely do not have celiac disease, so I decided to go for it on Saturday morning.  I made some raw oatmeal, added a banana, a tablespoon of walnuts, and 1/2 a tablespoon of agave nectar and went to town.  It was good.  And very filling.  Yum.

The second week now allows me to start adding things back in to my diet.  Today I can reintroduce wheat and gluten, Thursday I can reintroduce dairy, Saturday is soy, and Sunday I can start consuming caffeine again.  I still need to steer clear of added sugar, processed foods/beverages, alcohol, and fruit juices.  This, to me, seems like a much better list. 

Here's to Week Two!

smoothie heaven.

LOVING all the smoothies this week.  The recipes I've been following make 2 servings, so the little one is love them as well. :)

After the first day or so we just starting throwing stuff in a blender and seeing how it came out.  Almond butter...not good in a smoothie, by the way. But yesterday morning I believe we reached smoothie perfection. 

2 c. frozen mango chunks
1 banana
1/2 c. coconut milk
1 Tbsp. agave nectar

Oh my goodnes - this was just divine!  I could drink it every day.  And it was only 4 Weight Watchers Points.  Not bad for breakfast.  Not bad at all.

We picked up some frozen pineapple last night and plan on adding that to the mix.  Can't wait to see what we come up with next.

Everything else is going well.  I feel good.  A bit tired, but it's hard to say if that's from the diet or from being back at work after winter break.  Just a few more days, and I'll be able to add back some wheat and dairy next week. 

Happy weekend!!

ahhhhhh.

MUCH better day yesterday.  I did have a bit of a headache during the day, but by the time I got home I was feeling okay.  I cooked a yummy tilapia dinner for the family and then snuggled in to watch some TV and actually enjoy my evening.

The best part?

I found a cure for my ice cream craving.



Oh, yeah...this stuff has just saved me this week.  Creamy goodness that actually fits into my detox diet.

Somewhere, angels are singing.  Just for me.

the headache persists.

Day two is done...and that dang headache is back.  Not nearly as bad as the day before, but still there. Hubby is worried that it's from lack of caffeine, but a) I have been weaning myself off of caffeine for the past week or so, so that doesn't make sense, and b) even if it was from lack of caffeine, I've got to kick this habit, right?

I really think it's work related.  I went from two weeks of lazing about to 8 hour days of fluorescent lights, computer screens, and overhead projectors.  Ouch.

Food-wise I'm doing great!  I love the wholesome choices I've been forced to make.  Last night I made brown rice pasta with steamed vegetables, and the little one even decided to omit the jarred tomato sauce for my healthier toppings.  Nice!

And can I just say that I think I'm in danger of leaving hubby for avocados?  Yum-a-licious.

one down.

Well, the first day wasn't too bad.  Not too bad at all.  I was satisfied and happy most of the day.  I did end up with a really bad migraine in the afternoon, but I believe that was completely unrelated.  First day back at work under fluorescent lighting will do that.  Grr.

No workout yesterday, even though I was supposed to do a bit of yoga and a 10 minute walk/elliptical.  I felt so crummy from the headache I literally came home and took a nice long nap.  When I woke up I was better, but still groggy and disoriented, so I just had a bite to eat and lazed around for the evening.  I considered pushing myself, but I didn't want to make the headache worse.

Good things to come today - I can feel it!

Antioxidant Smoothie (adapted from Whole Living)
2 cups frozen berries
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 cup water

Serves 2.  Yum!

and so it begins.

Today is the first day of the Whole Living 28-Day Challenge and I am psyched.

I know that I can do this.  That I can eat more healthfully and take better care of my body.

I will eat several small meals throughout the day, starting off with one of their suggested smoothies.  Yum.  I made some other goodies over the weekend to prepare and will definitely share some recipes later on this week as I try them out.

Most worried about the lack of caffeine at this point...we'll see how that goes.

Wish me luck!
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Worked on my One Little Word class this past weekend.  My page is not quite done (I'll share when it is), but I did figure out a little about Photoshop Elements and put this together for the inside of my title page...I love it!

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We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

menus.

So, I've been a little concerned about the detox plans.  Is there enough food that is NOT on the taboo list for me to eat? 

I spent some time going through recipes to plan ahead for next week.  Here's what I found that looks good...

From Whole Living (host of the 28 Day Challenge):
Fresh fruit with applesauce sweetened tahini
Millet bowl with black beans and vegetables
Lots and lots of smoothies!

From The Vegan Table:
Butternut squash soup
Stuffed bell peppers
Masoor dal (red lentils)
Arborio rice with roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and basil
Tuscan white beans with sun dried tomatoes

From Color Me Vegan:
Grapefruit, yellow pepper, and avocado salad
Ginger-roasted parsnips
Summer squash with cherry tomatoes and pine nuts
Edamame soup
Winter white soup
Jicama slaw
Couscous and veggie medley
Carrot and avocado salad
Farrot fresh vegetable medley

Translation: I have nothing to worry about.

And I drooled a bit on my keyboard.

last hurrah.

The detox begins next week.  Monday.  I've been weaning myself off of too much caffeine. It actually helped that I had a pretty bad sore throat over the weekend, so all I really wanted was tea and water anyway.  I got some yummy decaf black vanilla tea from Numi that I just can't get enough of.  I haven't had a coke zero in a few days.  Not as hard as I thought it would be.  We'll see how I do when I return to work next week.

Diet hasn't been great.  I had a quite a few indulgences the past few days...holiday cookies, chinese food on Christmas day (as usual!), wings, assorted other crap.  Not to worry - I'm still supremely grossed out as I watch Man v. Food with hubby, but I haven't been an angel.  This needs to get better.

New Year's has me nervous.  We typically do a huge muchie spread for the day and watch the Twilight Zone marathon.  We have  bunch of junk already, but I need to find some healthier alternatives for me.  I don't want to jump into the detox after having gorged on crap. 

Off to research some healthy snacks.

the plan.

To tackle the dietary aspect of this ME makeover, I've decided to following the Whole Living Action Plan: 28 Day Challenge.  This is a 4 week detox dietary and exercise plan that really makes sense to me.  I've never done a detox before, and I'm a bit skeptical of my own willpower, but I'm hoping that I can pull through.  Really, the first week is going to be the hardest, as the following things are BIG no-nos on this plan:

• Added Sugar.  This one is not too bad.  I really don't have a huge sweet-tooth and much prefer salty foods to sugary ones anyway.
• Processed Foods or Beverages.  Hmmm...this gets a bit more complicated.  Say bye-bye to my Coke Zero and potato chips.  I've been wanting to do this for a long time, though, so it's worth it.
• Alcohol.  Sad, but doable.  I do love wine, though.
• Caffeine.  Yikes....this is probably going to be the most difficult on this list. 
• Wheat/gluten.  Not sure how this one is going to go.  I love my carbs, and bread is one of my favorite things...but it's added back in Week 2, so I think I can stick it out.
• Eggs.  Not a big fan, anyway.
• Dairy.  Milk - not a problem.  I will miss cheese and yogurt, but they are brought back during Week 2.
• Peanut Products.  Doable.
• Fruit Juices.  Not a major part of my current diet, anyway.  Doable.
• Soy.  This one is more difficult, as I'm a vegetarian and normally consume large amounts of soy.  I will have to focus more on beans and fish this week.  This one is also reintroduced in Week 2.
• Corn.  I do like corn, but can certainly live without it.

Alright, so the tough areas apparently are processed food, caffeine, and soy.  Processed food is going to be difficult, but I know I can abstain.  Soy is hard, too, but as long as I include a good protein source I'll be okay.  Really, it seems like caffeine is the most difficult one.  I really need to focus on cutting back this coming week to prepare myself.  Of course, it doesn't help that I will be returning to work the first week of detox, huh?  Note to self: stock up on tea.  Yikes.