Alarm Clocks, Enchiladas And So On...

I was super skeptical about this whole new way of eating.  When Monday morning rolled around I was ready to prove Whole30 (and everyone who swears by a paleo diet) wrong.  

I have the same routine every Monday...wake up at 630, arrive at work at 7.  Make girls breakfast, and around 730 make myself a protein shake (usually chocolate powder with berries and maybe a banana and some greek yogurt) and have a little sausage patty too.  Drop the girls at their school around 820 and head to the gym.  Run for 15-20 min depending on time and then do a cardio/weights class.  At some point during class I usually feel a little woozy...blood sugar dipping, lights starting to fade.  By the end of class I'm pretty hungry but I immediately run to the grocery store for work to get that out of the way.  I might snack on something I have in the car--clementine, almonds, protein bar, etc.  I'll eventually eat something around 1130 but by that point I'm STARVING!

This Monday, I got up at 6 (enough time to make breakfast) ate my hash with two eggs at 630 and headed to work at normal time.  I got the girls dropped off at school and headed to the gym thinking, man, I ate a whole hour earlier than normal, this gym class is gonna suck, I might pass out.  I ran a mile because that's all I had time for and then headed into the class.  By the time class was over I realized, not only was I still not hungry but I also had never felt the low blood sugar thing.  I ran errands like normal but didn't have a snack at all.  Eventually, I made it home and had a hard boiled egg at noon because I knew I needed the protein and headed off to a daytime babysitting gig...ate my chicken taco salad around 1 and still wasn't feeling that dreaded starving sensation.

What the what?!

It actually worked.  I was shocked!  I talked to mom about it and she was like, yeah, Lins, this works and I think it will be amazing for your blood sugar issues.

Moms...why are they always right?!

Ok, back to that taco salad...I love me some taco salad and for the past year or so I've been using ground chicken and mixing in a pouch of Frontera Grill seasoning...super delicious.  However, my pouch-o-deliciousness is not Whole30 approved...time to make my own seasoning...

Click here for recipe

I googled "Paleo taco seasoning" and came up with this recipe which I followed exactly.

Delicious.  I put the chicken over a bed of spinach and added some onion, tomato and avocado.

That lunch kept me full till late afternoon when I hit my munchie phase of the day.  I was good though and had a cup of this amazing Tazo tea I saw for the first time at the store...seriously the Herbal (decaf) Sweet Cinnamon Spice tea tastes like dessert...but no sugar!  Even Phoebe liked it!  She thought I'd added sugar, that's how good it is!

I also had a small handful of cashews to hold me over until dinner which I didn't eat until about 8pm.  I've realized I'm not eating enough post-workout.  Instead of having a post-workout meal I've just been having a snack and I think though I'm not necessarily feeling hungry at the moment, I need to eat something sort of substantial pretty shortly after working out.  I think that will prevent me from being starving later on.

All in all, I think this is working.  I've spent a lot less time thinking about food.  Let me rephrase that--I have spent a lot of time thinking about food, but not in a "what can it do for me emotionally" way, but in more of a "is this good fuel for my body" kind of way.

Lucy's Dinner...

It hasn't been without a few temptations though.  I made the girls chicken/cheese/bean enchiladas Tuesday night for dinner...so even though I'm allowing myself to eat "normal" dinners the rest of March, I wasn't able to enjoy these enchiladas because I had dinner plans with a friend after work.

Their dinner looked so good...but I wasn't about to eat two dinners.  Plus, four off limit foods rolled into one delicious item?  Seriously, I could eat the chicken, and that's it...no cheese, no beans, no tortilla, no processed enchilada sauce...but man, did Lucy's plate tempt me!

I decided that since dinner Wednesday night was going to be crock-pot lasagna, and though I do like that, I wanted an enchilada more.  So, I packed up one enchilada (sans beans--I make some without because Mia doesn't like them) for myself for the following day.  I'd skip crock-pot lasagna and have the tempting enchilada instead.  Which is exactly what I did.  And it was so yummy.  I topped it with half an avocado...you know, for some good fats...

So, I ate the enchilada for lunch...what was I to have while the girls were eating lasagna for dinner?  Think, think, think...it needs to have veggies, protein and be delicious.  Here's what I came up with...it's a little unorthodox but man, was it delicious.

I spooned a ton of steamed broccoli I'd made to accompany the girls lasagna into a bowl, topped it with leftover chicken that didn't make it into the enchiladas the day before.  Simple, tasty and healthy.

While I was eating that, I was also making "paleo pancakes" which are simply just one mashed banana mixed with one raw egg, a little cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt, spooned onto the griddle and then topped with fresh fruit salad I'd made earlier in the day.  Heaven.  Paleo Pancake Heaven.