Days 15 & 16: Halfway! Reflections, Great Finds, and Timesavers

Whoo Hoo! We made it halfway! Oh my! I am such a slave to mental benchmarks. When I am losing weight it is the next five pound increment, when I am running it is the next half mile. With a challenge like this it starts with days past, and now we can finally count down days left. Mental "games" like this make me really stay engaged and on track. It was rewarding to say "wow, we have made it 10 days, 11 days, etc." Now I am excited to says "we only have 14 days left, 13 days..."

Halfway through I am definitely starting to feel some changes in my body. I do have more energy throughout the day and I have noticed that my mood is not so, shall we say, volatile. I find I am calmer during the day dealing with the kids. I am contributing that mostly to increased/better sleep. I also have minimal/fleeting cravings. When I get a craving it is usually linked to whatever food I am making for the kids...just one bite of the PB&J crust...and of course Parker asked for Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast the other day - ouch, that one was tough! I also have a pair of pants I am calling my Whole30 pants. As I said before, I did not weigh myself before the challenge and I have found that SOOO helpful. Whenever I am tempted to get on the scale I think to myself - "what is the point, you don't know what you weighed to start with, so the scale can't tell you anything" how awesome is that? I really am loving that freedom! But I do have a pair of jeans that was getting pretty tight over the holidays. And they are truly the only pair I can use to judge because they are the only ones that don't have some form of stretch to them that makes them lose their shape as the day goes on...saggy butt jeans anyone? So, I decided to try them on yesterday, and low and behold they are looser! I could button them with no difficulty and there was noticeably less, shall we say, puff (I don't like the term "muffin top") over the top. So, I consider that a big win! 

Yesterday was my big weekly shopping trip. I had read an interesting blog a few days ago about how much more expensive it is to eat Paleo/Whole30 and I was trying to be much more aware of that "topic" while I was shopping. As you would expect I spend much more time in the outskirts of the store - far from all the boxed food. Of course, with Ben and the kids still eating some of that food, I spend some time in the aisles, but noticeably less. The result is that my grocery cart looks like this:

Note: The baby comes with the cart.

So, the entire top part of the cart is filled with fruits and veggies and the bottom stocked with our meats and "some" extras for my non-Whole30 eaters. Don't judge based on the aisle we are in - the left side is where my sparkling water is - no Fruit Loops today! It is a very gratifying feeling to know you are taking home so much good/wholesome food. But, the bank account pays for it. It definitely is more expensive to eat this way. Our weekly grocery trip is about $175, and this day was closer to $250. Granted, I had to stock up on a couple of household items, but not enough to account for an additional $75. So, moving forward post Whole30 I will have to do a bit more budgeting and trying to find some ways to cut the costs. The commissary is already much less expensive than traditional grocery stores, and as well all know, they don't make coupons for produce!

On to my FPF (Fabulous Paleo Finds) and tips. I have recently discovered "Simply Balanced" which is the health food brand of Target. They have some great teas that are compliant as well as the freeze dried fruit that I have become addicted to. They also even have some "fruit bites" that are compliant and yummy. The fruit bites lean a little bit towards SWYPO (Sex With Your Pants On), but as a treat I enjoy them and am willing to add them to my "moderation" supply. The Simply Balanced brand seems to have a pretty extensive line of products that are much less processed than other snacks/food. I am going to continue to check out their offerings. 

My recent time saving tip has been about my bell peppers. I bought bell peppers at Costco, but they were turning soft and I really didn't want to throw them away. So I quickly sliced them all up into small strips and threw them in a gallon ziploc and popped them in the freezer. I wasn't sure if they would hold up. I was very pleasantly surprised the next morning when I wanted some peppers for my breakfast and I found that they held up very well. I chopped some into smaller pieces while they were still frozen and I threw them in the pan for my breakfast. I will definitely be doing this in the future. It saves a bunch of time in the morning and if I do it when I first get the peppers it will help keep them fresh. Win!

My breakfasts and lunches have become pretty consistent - eggs and veggies for breakfast and salad or leftovers for lunch. So I am going to just post dinners from now on unless I eat something special/different for one of the other meals.

Day 15: Another score from eMeals. So far every meal I have tried from these recipes has been a success. We had Pork Ragu. I had mine over roasted spaghetti squash and made noodles for Ben and the kids. We had it with a green salad.

Recipe: Pork Ragu

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large carrot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 lb ground pork

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 cup white wine (I substituted chicken stock)

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook 8 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Add pork to skillet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 6 minutes or until browned. Deglaze with white wine, scraping skillet to loosen browned bits. Stir in bay leaf, parsley and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook 25 minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated. Discard bay leaf before serving. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired.

Day 16: Pan-Seared Halibut from eMeals. I served this with steamed veggies. It was delicious. The package of halibut I bought had three pieces. Ben and I both ate one and thought it was so good we split the third.

Recipe: Pan-Seared Halibut

3 tablespoons almond flour

½ teaspoon garlic salt

½ teaspoon lemon pepper

6 (6-oz) skinless halibut fillets (or substitute tilapia)

2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

Combine almond flour, garlic salt and lemon pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge fish in flour mixture. Melt 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 fillets to pan. Cook 8 minutes, turning once, or until fish flakes with a fork. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fish.