My Whole30 Recap

Yes, I am horrible at keeping up with my blog and I've been meaning to update... really! However, late is better than never so here's my reap on my Whole30 experience.  

First, I want to apologize for leaving the last 9 days blank, but the last nine days were about the same as all the other days.  I didn't experience anything different from before.  After my Whole30, I did lose weight, but not anything significant.  Honestly, I was a bit disappointed because my experience was not like all the testimony I've read about.  I didn't experience the "tiger blood" nor the crazy cravings for food I haven't had in years.  The only thing I did experience were the headaches at the beginning.  

How Whole30 helped me was learning about how my body works with food.  My cravings for sweets went down dramatically.  I used to have some sort of dessert right when I get home (i.e. ice cream, cakes, etc).  I would even eat sweets that I don't like.  It was bad and I recognized it too.  Now, I am able to pass on the desserts and not want the sugary stuff anymore. 

I am also eating breakfasts every day and that was something I didn't do before.  For most of my life, I went without breakfast (unless I was going out to meet up with friends or have brunch).  I was never really hungry in the mornings and a cup of coffee in the morning was suffice.  

My recovery from my workouts are a lot faster than before.  My soreness usually goes away by mid-day the next day after my work out.  I would wake up sore, but feel great and normal by 11AM.  It's not a bad thing when I'm usually sore all the time. 

So would I continue to do Whole30? I'm not sure.  I've been debating about it for a while.  Currently I am still on Whole30, but I am not sure for how long I'll keep this up. 

Day 21: Paleo Potluck & Zucchini Lasagna

I was invited to a Paleo Potluck and honestly had no idea what to make!  I first thought of the sloppy joes, but knowing how messy that could be I decided to scratch that idea.  I checked the invite to see what other folks were bringing and figured I could make my zucchini lasagna.  I also had some Brussels sprouts and decided to bring a side dish as well (yes, I was really busy in the kitchen that day).  

We had a lot of fun and the food was awesome!  There were salmon, curry meatballs, chicken stir-fry, chicken wings, almond butter, cucumber water, and apple crisps!  The food was so delish that we might have another potluck this weekend.  Anyway, on to a recipe: 

Zucchini Lasagna (adapted from The Food Lovers Kitchen):

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground meat (beef or turkey - I've tried both and loved it equally)
• 1 cup of green bell peppers, diced
• 1 cup of onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of basil 
• 1 tbsp of parsley
• 1 tbsp of oregano
• 1 Zucchini, julienne (thinly sliced)
• 1.5 cups of mushroom, sliced
• 15 oz of tomato sauce
• 6 oz of tomato paste 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Red crushed pepper flakes (optional - if you want it spicy)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Brown the meat over medium heat - breaking it into pieces.
3. Add garlic, onion, and green peppers and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in tomato paste and tomato sauce.
5. Then add parsley, basil, and oregano.  Bring sauce to a boil, then remove from heat.
6. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if needed. 
7. Grab a 9" x 13" baking dish and layer the sauce thinly in the baking dish.
8. Then layer the zucchini and mushrooms over the sauce - repeat and alternate the layering of sauce, zucchini and mushrooms. 
9. Bake the lasagna for 15 minutes - covered.  Then, remove the foil and increase the temperature to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes.  
10. Remove and enjoy!

Day 20: Panera Bread Pastries All Around Me...

So I am sitting at the service area waiting on my car. I go to the "early bird" special on Saturday mornings because not only is it super cheap for me to get my oil change, this place also serves you breakfast! I'm not talking about your nasty cheap donuts, etc. I'm talking about your fresh cooked omelet made the way you want with OJ.  However, today they didn't bring in the cooks for the omelets and instead, they're serving Panera Bread's pastries and sandwiches. Major blah because I cannot have anything (and it smells wonderful in here).

Panera Bread bagels

Interestingly, even though it smells great in here, I was not tempted to go over and grab one (well, I did walk over to take a photo, but I wasn't interested in picking it up). My cravings for processed sugar seems to have diminished a lot! Even the paleo-fied desserts aren't as tempting as they used to be. Confession: I really wanted to pig out at this one restaurant that makes amazing paleo desserts, but was not able to.  Before I went on the Whole30 journey, I would drool thinking about those desserts (look at the picture! How could you not?!); however, I haven't really craved it and writing about it haven't made me want to text my girlfriend to have a dessert date. 

Paleo Blueberry Cobbler (w/ paleo ice cream)

Initially when I started the Whole30 journey, I told myself the first thing I'm going to order is one of the paleo desserts from my favorite restaurant.  Now, I am not so sure if that's the first thing I want.  I think I would love some good cheese and a glass of red wine.  It's interesting in how just 20 days, your taste buds/cravings can change.  Hopefully I can see/feel more changes in the next/last 10 days of this challenge.