Coney Island Boardwalk & NY Aquarium
August 4, 2013
Coney Island Boardwalk & NY Aquarium
Whole30 – Day 3
I feel like today was full of sweet. Fruit and coconut water made for a sugary day.
Breakfast
In an effort to be even more Whole30 compliant, today’s smoothie had no banana. I liked it – tasted more green.
Whole30 lists smoothies as a ‘we rather you didn’t’ food, instead of banning them outright. While I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment for smoothies from a store and fruity smoothies, I would argue that my breakfast smoothie is just fine. My breakfast smoothie contains loads of green veggies and good fats, and keeps me satisfied until lunch much better than a couple of hardboiled eggs does. And I’ve been drinking this smoothie for over 7 months, so my body gets pissy without its morning fatty vitamin shot.
Whole30’s secondary issue with smoothies (that they are a sugar bomb is the primary issue), is that drinking your food sends different messages to the brain than chewing your food, which leads to a delayed ‘full’ reaction. I get this, I do. And thin fruit smoothies definitely fit this bill. My smoothie is thick – it takes some work to get through the straw – and my body is very conscious of what is going into it because of that. Also, the avocado is fatty – and fills me up until lunch at 12:30.
Tl;dr: While not expressly forbidden, Whole30 says smoothies set your body up for ‘cravings, hunger, and volatile energy levels throughout the day’. For most smoothies, I agree. I argue that my smoothie has enough fat & green leafies in it that it does satiate me until lunch – with no crash.
Lunch
We decided to call it an early day and ordered delivery for from somewhere called Tasty Chicken. The menu consists of chicken (fried, grilled and rotisserie), tons of sandwiches, wraps, ribs, a few salads, fried Mac & cheese, and lots of things smothered in BBQ sauce.
In this long, long menu was buried a few Whole30 approved items. I ordered half a rotisserie chicken with an order of steamed broccoli with garlic.
The chicken was so filling I didn’t even go near the broccoli, and I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture.
Dinner
1 cup of mixed ‘nod to the season’ fruit.
Drink
I wanted something with more taste than the 60+ ounces of water I drink daily, so had half a can of 100% coconut water, and man was it sweet.
August 3, 2013
Thanks, guys, lots of help with my morning workout there.
Summer On A Plate – Bacon, Tomato & Peach Salad (paleo, Whole30*)
I read something enchanting a few weeks ago: grilled bacon. I saw it somewhere, in some recipe header, and the concept lodged in my brain; unwilling to let go.
Grilled bacon, brain said, in the middle of the night. GrilledBacon, it said, in the afternoon. GRILLED BACON, it screamed, while trying to think of what to have for dinner. So I tried grilling bacon. And … ???? It was just like pan-fried bacon, only more burnt. Still fantabulous, mind you, since I happen to *like* bacon that’s been on fire – but not the best use of my bacony buck. Maybe I should have read the recipe afterall.
Summer On A Plate – Bacon, Tomato & Peach Salad (paleo, Whole30*)
2 strips bacon (check your source for Whole30!)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 Saturn peach (or any variety, I just so happen to be addicted to the Saturn variety from Trader Joe’s)
3 leaves basil
Citrus salt
Balsamic vinegar (the best quality, thickest you can find)
Crisp your bacon however you see fit, drain on paper towels and chop. Chiffonade the basil, slice the cherry tomatoes in half, and the peaches in thin slices. Combine all and drizzle with balsamic. Finish off with some nice citrus salt.
Serves 1 as a side for dinner or lunch. Easily scaleable to feed more.
*This recipe can be made Whole30 compliant. Bacon isn’t completely verboten, just mostly. According to the Whole30 edict, bacon that is made with no added sugar is clear, which you’re most likely not going to find in the regular grocery store. US Wellness Meats sells Whole30 approved bacon, and your local natural food store, butcher or farmers would be a good place to look as well.
August 2, 2013
The city demands it.
Whole30 – Day 2
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie ftw – made with coconut oil today instead of avocado. Yum.
Lunch
Roasted balsamic eggplant with sauteed zucchini and shallots in coconut oil + 2 eggs fried in coconut oil
Dinner
Friday ‘date night’. Went out to Thistle Hill Tavern and had a 16 ounce pork chop with onions + half an order of deviled eggs, which I’m hoping were compliant. And unsweetened tea to drink.
Snack
1/2 cup mixed fresh fruit – pineapple, melon, grapes, strawberries
Whole30 – Day 1
Day 1 of this Whole30 business was pretty easy. I’ve been prepping myself for this crazypants excursion for a solid month now (getting mentally ready by saying ‘goodbye for now’ to alcohol, non-dairy ice cream and rooster sauce) so today wasn’t too rough.
Breakfast
My DH’s green smoothie. Luckily, the brand of orange juice we use is 100% juice (not from concentrate with no additives) and the coconut water we use is 100% coconut (no additives).
Lunch
I made a salad of 1.5 cups shredded carrot, 1 sliced scallion, 1 sliced nectarine, 6 cherry tomatoes, 1 Tbsp. diced mint, 1 Tbsp. diced cilantro, 1 small breast leftover Baked Mustard Lime Chicken + a quick dressing made from some of the chicken sauce and 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil.
Snack
Had a 100 calorie pack of plain almonds by Emerald.
Dinner
Made a simple sautee of sea beans in coconut oil, garlic & shallots and baked some boneless skinless chicken thighs with more coconut oil, garlic and shallots. A simple meal, but a good one.
August 1, 2013
How did it get to be August already?
Whole30 Challenge Or, This Crazybananas Thing I’m Doing
I’ve decided to monkey with my food habits again. Apparently, I’m some sort of food masochist because I’ve agreed to partake in a Whole30 Challenge with one of my best friends: the lovely and talented mind behind Emery’s Attic and the not-updated-nearly-enough *insert side eye here* OneWomanManyHats (to be fair, she has updated twice in the last month). She’s a warrior, a mother, one crafty b*tch, and has been my go-to for food-related questions/discovery/commiseration since we were teens. In short, she rocks. Let’s see if I still like her after this sojourn into depravation during peak corn-on-the-cob/beer/ice cream season. I know she’s giving me ‘mom eye’ right now, so I’ll quit whining. For now. (but I want wine)
During this month of crazybananas, I’ll be updating the blog more frequently with snaps of, and mini-recipes for, the things I’m eating (for my Nerd Fitness guild/challenge mates, I’ll be posting metrics on my thread as well to help those of you still on the Whole30 fence to hop down and join the fun).
What Is Whole30?
Whole30 is a month-long hard reset for the body. Kind of like paleo on steriods. No sugar (even honey or stevia), grains, dairy or legumes. Just whole, natural foods – like meats, veggies and fruits. Nothing in a package. No soy (mental note: find coconut aminos; Braggs isn’t going to cut it this month). Amend fish sauce buying to conform.
This program is designed to break the back of sugar and carb cravings and give your body a balanced place from which to build healthy habits. It seeks to reset your metabolism, knock out systemic inflammation (that you may not even know you have) and zero out other gut health issues. Have random stomach pain like me? This may help balance that. Irregular? IBS? Feel like crap all the time? Can’t lose weight? Well .. this crazybananas plan might work.
My favorite part of the plan, aside from the reset, is the tough love. This is not hard – not like quitting heroin or beating cancer. Don’t even think about slipping – what you put into your mouth is always a choice. You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to eat – learn to stick up for yourself, peer pressure is for elementary school students. This will take effort but you will be better for it – especially if you’re a first-timer to cutting out grains and legumes. But … you can do this.
You know what? They’re right. In the grand scheme of things, 30 days is a small amount of time to deal with a little inconvenience. Unless there are roving bands of rapist donuts in your neighborhood; then maybe stay inside and eat what you’re supposed to anyways.
July 31, 2013
Work. It. Out.
Gastography 