Sunday, January 11, 2015

Whole 30

Mike and I have managed to stick with the whole 30 plan so far this month.  The kids are eating better, but no longer following the plan.  We're allowing them to have occasional whole grain bread, milk, peanut butter and some condiments.  The kids were really struggling with the loss of milk and bread, and we decided that nutritionally it would be good for them to have some of those foods. I'm not keeping milk or bread in the house all the time like I did in the past.  They are enjoying them about three times a week.

Mike has lost 15 pounds so far this year and is really loving the food plan.  His energy is through the roof and his enthusiasm is boundless for Whole 30.  I've lost 18.5 pounds and feel better.  The lethargy is gone and I am calmer and more interested in doing things.  Unfortunately, I miss my International House Caramel Vanilla coffee each afternoon.  Tea is lovely, but doesn't provide me with the same feeling of comfort and relaxation that the daily cup of coffee used to give me.

I'm exercising almost every other day and can feel myself regaining stamina that I had lost over the summer.  The plan is to now exercise two days in a row, then take a day off and repeat the pattern.  By the end of the month, I'll be working out 6 days each week. 

My blood pressure is in the normal range, so our health insurance premiums should go down this year.  The penalty for not being in the healthy range was quite expensive.  Maybe we should put the money we're saving in premiums aside each week and then take a wonderful trip next summer.  Hmmmm.

We started writing down some of the recipes that we're developing that were well received by the masses.  My crock-pot chuck roast with tomatoes, carrots, celery, thyme, onions, and parsley was delicious.  My prepared a paprika chicken breast that was full of flavor, but not spicy.  I enjoyed it so much that he's going to make it again this week.  Tonight's main course is turkey-beef meatloaf prepared with ground chuck, ground turkey, eggs, grated carrots, diced onions, parsley, and thyme. 
Mike prepared a vegetable-chicken soup using spaghetti squash, bok choy, carrots, and onions that was a good replacement for chicken noodle soup.

The kids are enjoying the wide variety of vegetables that we're eating throughout the day.  We've always enjoyed roasted asparagus in the spring, but now we're getting it in January. Acorn squash is being prepared in a variety of ways and NOW the kids like them.  Mike tried to serve cranberry sauce, but it was simply to sour without any form of sweetener.  Kale has received mixed reviews.  Some of the kids thought that it was okay, others really disliked it.

I've realized that my children are less fussy about foods than I am.  It's something that I'm going to need to work on, but try as I might, I just don't think squash and I will ever be best buddies.

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