Food for Thought

A friend of mine had mentioned a while back that she had gone gluten and dairy free to help manage her migraines.  I had heard of other friends doing the paleo diet but never gave it much thought.  One day hubby said to me that he wanted to start a diet and was thinking of doing Atkins again.  I suggested maybe we try paleo instead since it might help with my migraines too and kill two birds with one stone.  He agreed.

If you've never heard of paleo it’s also commonly referred to as the “caveman diet”.   Think of anything that a caveman would have access to eat during the Paleolithic era and that’s what you can eat.  That means lots of fruits, veggies, meat and nuts.  The big no-no’s are gluten, dairy, refined sugar, legumes and alcohol. 

We started Paleo on July 28^th and so far we’ve each lost 10 lbs and I feel much more energetic.  More importantly I have been migraine free!  At first I thought it would be extremely difficult to cut out gulten, dairy and refined sugars but I discovered that I didn’t miss it all that much.  It’s especially easier to stick with it knowing that it’s helping keep my migraines at bay.  After maybe another month or so I will start to incorporate dairy and then gluten into my diet and see if I can pinpoint one or the other that is causing my migraines.  I have a feeling it’s dairy causing them as I cheated a little on Saturday (had dairy) and I ended up with a slight migraine.  Needless to say, I won’t be cheating again anytime soon.

For those that want to get started on paleo there are lots of resources out there to help you.  I’ve found quite a few good paleo blogs via Pinterest.  Some of my favorite blogs/websites for recipe inspiration are:

• Against All Grain 
• Stupid Easy Paleo 
• Mark’s Daily Apple – Primal Blueprint 
• Nom Nom Paleo 

Additionally, here’s a week’s worth of meal plans from things I’ve done:

DAY 1:
Breakfast:  2 hardboiled eggs

Lunch:  Mixed greens with sliced avocado and olive oil

Dinner:  Beef with Bok Choy Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice 

Snack:  Apple with cashew butter

DAY 2:
Breakfast:  1 egg (over easy) on top of 1 piece of leftover pork.

Lunch:  Salad with grilled chicken & sunflower seed.  (just a drizzle of olive oil for dressing)

Dinner:  Turkey stuffed peppers  

Snack:  mixed fruit and a few almonds

DAY 3:
Breakfast:  2 hard boiled eggs & a banana

Lunch:  Leftover stuffed pepper from night before

Dinner:  Garlic ginger chicken with garlic roasted asparagus 

Snack:  Fresh Cherries

DAY 4:
Breakfast:  2 egg frittata muffins 

Lunch:  Baby lettuce topped with 1 cup avocado basil chicken salad 

Dinner:  Honey Garlic Chicken Wings with side salad 

Snack: Coconut milk ice cream

DAY 5:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and 3 pieces of turkey bacon

Lunch:  Leftover wings from night before

Dinner:  Sausage & Veggie Bake (I added some chopped sweet potato into this as well)  

Snack:   Carrot, celery sticks and a few cashews

DAY 6:

Breakfast:  2 egg frittata muffins 

Lunch:  Leftover sausage & veggie bake from night before

Dinner:  Italian style meatloaf with Carrot "Rice" Leek Risotto with Bacon 

Snack:  Spiced mixed nuts

DAY 7:

Breakfast: Blueberry & Lemon muffin 

Lunch:  Leftover meatloaf and carrot rice from night before

Dinner:   Shiritake noodles with paleo meatballs in marinara sauce 

Snack:  “popcorn” cauliflower 

Weeks 36 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.8 lbs

Zero is okay with me this week.  It was a tough stress week and I’m putting it behind me.  It’s a new week and I’m going back to meal planning and drinking more water.  I’m also gearing up for the start of my volleyball season so I’m excited to get back on the court one night a week.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 9/15:  Grilled Chicken Thighs with Grilled Polenta & Grilled Corn on the Cob (10 pts+)

Monday 9/16:  Leftovers (no meal plan)

Tuesday 9/17:  no meal plan (volleyball night)

Wednesday 9/18:  Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken with ½ cup brown rice (8 pts+) 

Thursday 9/19:  Autumn Penne Pasta with Sautéed Brussels Sprouts in a Light Ragu (8 pts+)  

Friday 9/20:  Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili (5 pts+) 

Saturday 9/21:  Leftovers (no meal plan)

Week 33 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0.4 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.8 lbs

It’s not much, but at least the scale is going in the right direction.  This week has been a bit crazy at work – as evidenced by my 4 day late posting of my weekly update.  So I haven’t been home much this week to cook dinner.  I did make a meal plan last weekend but it’s sort of been shot down with the curve ball that work threw at me this week.

If I end up with some time the next couple days or over the weekend these are a few ideas I am going to try and whip up:

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Avocado Salsa (8 pts+) 

 

Pork Spare Ribs with Peach Jalapeño sauce (7 pts+)   (adapted from THIS recipe and used ribs instead of pork loin)

Week 32 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -2.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.4 lbs

 

I’m very happy to see the scale go down this week.  Yay!  Hopefully this isn’t just another yo-yo week and the trend only continues.  I sort of feel like I’m already in maintenance mode already, but I still have another 1.8lbs left to go until I hit the goal weight set for me by weight watchers.  I’m determined to hit that number before I mentally switch into maintenance. 

 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

 

Sunday 8/18:  Italian-StyleBraised Rabbit with roasted onion potatoes (10 pts+ total) 

 

Monday 8/19:  (a repost from last week since we ended up going out last Wednesday.)  Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (5 pts+) with Cilantro Lime Rice (5 pts+)

 

Tuesday 8/20:  Chicken sausage with broccoli and provolone. (6 pts+)  Served with side salad. (1 pt+ for dressing)

 

Wednesday 8/21:  Naked turkey bruschetta burger (7 pts+) 

 

Thursday 8/22:  Bangin' Grilled Shrimp Skewers with ½ cup brown rice and sautéed zucchini (7 pts+ total)

 

Friday 8/23:  leftovers

 

Saturday 8/24:  leftovers or takeout

Weeks 30 & 31 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +1.8 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -34.2 lbs

In the midst of my craziness last week I completely forgot to post an update.  It wasn’t very exciting…  there was no change.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I had mentioned in my week 28 post that I had hoped to be hitting my goal weight at week 30.  Oops! 

This past week felt like a bit of a fail.  Those pesky 1.8 lbs from week 29 showed back up.  I didn’t have a meal plan last week because we were so incredibly busy so I’m sure that had something to do with it.  We ate a lot of quick foods and I tried to do my best to watch but I was having one of those “hunger” weeks and nothing was satisfying me. 

It’s really starting to get frustrating though that I can’t seem to get the momentum to get these last few pounds off.  I’ll just have to try harder this week and continue to try and stay focused and not stress out about it.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 8/11:   Mango & Jalapeño chicken sausage with mixed bell peppers (8 pts+)

Monday 8/12:   Greek Style Chicken and Roasted Potatoes (7 pts+)

Tuesday 8/13:  Penne & Chicken Tenderloins with Spiced Tomato Sauce (6 pts+)

Wednesday 8/14:  Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (5 pts+) with Cilantro Lime Rice (5 pts+) and green beans (0 pts+)

Thursday 8/15:  Leftovers

Friday 8/16:  Super Skinny Sweet & Sour Chicken (7 pts+)

Saturday 8/17:  Leftovers (attending a birthday party)

Week 29 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0? lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.0 lbs

I am questioning my weigh in this week because of some things I ate (and drank) over the weekend at birthday parties we attended.  When I weighed in Monday morning the numbers showed a gain of 1.8 lbs.  However, I re-weighed myself this morning and the numbers showed me down .2 lbs from last week…  so I’m calling it a draw. LOL  The next few weeks will be tough to stay on the program as I go through what I’ve dubbed “birthday party mania”.  We have about 8 birthday parties to attend in a matter of 4 weeks! (would have been 9 but I said no to one).  I'm determined though to not let the birthday cake get the better of me!

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 7/28:   Grilled chicken legs with BBQ sauce (10 pts+) and roasted summer squash (2 pts+)

Monday 7/29:   working late (got pizza)

Tuesday 7/30:  worked late (leftovers)

Wednesday 7/31:  Taco Night!  Tacos using ground chicken & whole grain shells (6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Thursday 8/1:  Chicken with Mushrooms & artichokes in garlic white wine sauce (6 pts+) with green beans (0 pts+) and side salad (1 pt+ for dressing)

Friday 8/2:  Beer Marinated Chicken Thighs (9 pts+) with side salad (1 pt+ for dressing)

Saturday 8/3:    no meal plan (attending a party)

Week 28 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -3.8 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.0 lbs

Only one week back on the plan and what a difference!  I had to do a double take (and triple weight check) yesterday morning just to make sure the scale wasn’t lying.  I wasn’t expecting this much of a loss this week so I’m ecstatic and highly motivated to keep it up!  I’ve surpassed the 35 lbs mark and only have 2.2 lbs to go to hit the “goal” weight I had set for myself on Weight Watchers.  Even though I haven’t been obsessing about hitting a certain weight, at this point I really want to hit that number since I’m so close I can taste it (no pun intended).  I’m hoping that by week 30 I can report back that I’ve hit my goal and have switched into maintenance mode. 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 7/21:   Lobster Rolls (6 pts+)

Monday 7/22:   (I moved this from Saturday b/c we ended up going out with our friends instead of BBQ’ing at home)
Asian Grilled Chicken Thighs (6 pts+)  I used skinless boneless thighs instead of breasts with Asian Cabbage Mango Slaw (2 pts+)

Tuesday 7/23:  Grilled hot dog (no bun) with baked beans & grilled corn on the cob (8 pts+ total for everything)

Wednesday 7/24:  Skinny Lemon Glazed Chicken (6 pts+) with ½ cup brown rice (4 pts+)

Thursday 7/25:   Grilled chicken sausage (5 pts+) with grilled zucchini (0 pts+)

Friday 7/26:  Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice (8 pts+)

Saturday 7/27:    no cooking (attending a party)

Week 27 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +0.2 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -32.2 lbs

I skipped last week because we were on vacation and I didn’t have a scale to weigh in on Monday.  So considering this is really a 2 week weigh in and one of those weeks was vacation where I wasn’t following WW at all, I’m considering this a win in my book!   It’s going to be tough, but I need to get back into the WW flow this week.  The heat wave is going to make working out difficult but I can always squeeze in some sit ups and other exercises in the air conditioning ;)

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 7/14:   no cooking (got home late from vacation)

Monday 7/15:   didn’t end up cooking tonight.  Got pizza instead ;)

Tuesday 7/16:  Taco Tuesday!  Using ground chicken & whole grain shells (6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Wednesday 7/17:  Hot dogs & grilled corn on the cob

Thursday 7/18:  Buffalo Turkey Burgers with Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw (10 pts+)

Friday 7/19:  Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onion and Balsamic (4 pts+)  with side salad (1 pt+ for dressing)

Saturday 7/20:    Asian Grilled Chicken Thighs (6 pts+)  I used skinless boneless thighs instead of breasts with Asian Cabbage Mango Slaw (2 pts+)

Week 25 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -2.0 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -32.4 lbs

I feel great about being down this week.  I fully made up for the pound I had gained last week and then some.  Hopefully this is a trend that I can continue.  Although I am leaving for vacation this coming weekend so I am going to try and not let that derail me.  I’m packing my running shoes and already used my running app to map out a 2.5 mile course around the neighborhood where we are staying so that I can keep up with my exercising.   On a positive note I have hit my wedding weight!!  If my dress wasn’t all packaged up in a storage box I would pull that sucker out and wear it.  Ha ha!! 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu.  I’ve already made the first two items below and I can say they both were delicious!  Hubby especially loved the Penne dish.  He already wants me to make it again.

Sunday 6/30:   Grilled Chicken Thighs with Pineapple, Corn and Bell Pepper Relish (6 pts+) with brown wild rice & salad.

Monday 7/1:   leftovers (volleyball night)

Tuesday 7/2:  Penne with Chicken & Spiced Tomato Sauce (6 pts+)  

Wednesday 7/3:  Skinny Meatloaf (5 pts+) with skinny garlic mashed potatoes (5 pts+

Thursday 7/4:   Grilled Citrus Chicken (4 pts+) with grilled squash (0 pts+)

Friday 7/5:  Spicy Basil Chicken (7 pts+) with side salad (1 pts+ for dressing)  

Saturday 7/6:   leftovers (leaving for vacation)

Week 24 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +1.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.4 lbs

This past week was my own fault.  I know what I did wrong. Nothing to blame other than bad choices and very little exercise.  Ever since I hit the 30 lb mark I’ve hit a plateau.  I teeter back & forth on a pound or two, but haven’t made any real progress in weeks.  I need to find my motivation again.  I need something…anything…to get me out of this rut and back into the groove that I was in for so many weeks.  It’s that motivation that is going to get me past these last few pesky pounds and over the finish line.  I know I said that I didn’t have a number goal I was trying to hit, but when I first joined WW they make you put in a number.  I’m only 7 8 pounds away from that number now and it would be a huge sense of accomplishment to hit the number that I set for myself so long ago.

This week’s dinner menu is not all that fantastic.  I’m working from a freezer stash of meat so it’s a hodge-podge of whatever I’ve got on hand.  I had to deal with a medical issue over the weekend (I’m ok) so didn’t get a chance to go food shopping.

Sunday 6/23:   no cooking (attending a graduation party for our niece)

Monday 6/24:   little man requested Chinese (I ordered steamed shrimp & veggies with brown rice to stay light)

Tuesday 6/25:  Skinny Baked Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Sauce (7 pts+) and side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)  - didn’t get to make this last week

Wednesday 6/26:  leftovers or something quick (have a client meeting in Philly and am getting home late)

Thursday 6/27:  Baked (orgrilled) chicken thighs with dijon & lime (5 pts+), garlic brussel sprouts (0 pts+) & side salad (1 pts+, for dressing) - another one that I didn't get to make last week

Friday 6/28:  baked sole (lightly breaded) with sautéed zucchini  (approx. 8 pts+)

Saturday 6/29:   leftovers (have birthday party & play date during the day)

Week 23 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -31.4 lbs

 

I was a tad lazy this week and didn’t count my points at all.  I guess I’ve either gotten really good at figuring out points in my head and/or portion control has started to become 2^nd nature.   I’m hoping it’s the latter since I’ve started to get tired of measuring everything out and have been trying to do things more by eye.  Hopefully this means my eye has become smaller (haha) and I’m measuring out what I should be eating rather than 2x the amount, like most Americans do. 

 

You would think that between losing weight and exercising more I should be feeling so much better and energetic, right?!  Ironically I’ve been exhausted & crabby this past week, to the point that I caught myself nodding off yesterday while at work (NOT good).  It baffles me that once I started getting healthy I kinda started to feel a little worse.  I don’t get it.  It’s not only this week.  I haven’t really felt a ton more energy like I expected.  Maybe I just need to up my vitamin or my protein intake.  Or maybe I’m just having an off week…

 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

 

Sunday 6/16:   Father’s Day BBQ

 

Monday 6/17:  Mexican Adobo Rubbed Grilled Pork Tenderloin (4 pts+) with ¾ cup cilantro lime rice (5 pts+)

 

Tuesday 6/18:  Taco Tuesday!  Using ground chicken & whole grain shells (6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

 

Wednesday 6/19:  Surf & Turf night.  Steamed snow crab legs & grilled marinated London broil (no recipe.  Just some garlic, olive oil & parsley.  Marinate in a bag for a few hours)

 

Thursday 6/20:  leftovers

 

Friday 6/21:  Skinny Baked Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Sauce (7 pts+) and side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)

 

Saturday 6/22:   Baked (or grilled) chicken thighs with dijon & lime (5 pts+), grilled corn on the cob (2 pts+) & side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)

 

 

Week 22 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +0.4 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.2 lbs

Not exactly the numbers I was hoping for this week, but it could have been worse.  I allowed myself a junk food binge after I was done with my race on Saturday so I’m probably still full of salt.  I should have been taking measurements of myself from the beginning so that I could not only measure pounds lost but also inches lost.  While I haven’t quite lost that many pounds over the last month, I do feel my clothes fitting much looser and even noticed just this week that I need to put my bras on the very last setting because they are too big for my back.

These last few pounds are certainly going to prove to be the most difficult ones but I’m determined to hit the goal that I had set for myself when I signed up for weight watchers years ago.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 6/9:   Fluke Piccata. (7 pts+) with corn on the cob (2 pts+)  Actual recipe calls for flounder, but hubby went fishing on Saturday and caught fluke which is very similar to flounder so I used those fresh filets instead.  It came out perfect!  

Monday 6/10:  BBQ spare ribs (10 pts+) with sautéed zucchini (0 pts+)

Tuesday 6/11:  Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables (9 pts+)   

Wednesday 6/12:  Asian Glazed Drumsticks (5 pts+) with side salad (0 pts+) 

Thursday 6/13:  Going out to dinner for A’s preschool graduation

Friday 6/14:  Leftovers

Saturday 6/15:   no plan.  attending a late day birthday party.

Week 21 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.6 lbs

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been at this for 5 months.  If one way it feels like forever but in the next breath it feels like I only started a couple weeks ago.  This past week I was pretty bad at tracking my points within the weight watchers app, but instead was doing it in my head.  I didn’t do a half bad job considering I pretty much stayed even for the week.  I guess the last 20 weeks have taught me something after all ;)

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 6/2:   Asparagus Risotto (7 pts+)  I ate it as my main meal, along with a side salad.  For hubby he needed something more so I made him some lamb chops to go along with it.  

Monday 6/3:  Chicken Marsala (7 pts+) with garlic brussel sprouts & ½ cup long grain wild rice (4 pts+)

Tuesday 6/4:  Grilled Shrimp Scampi (8 pts+) with side salad (1 pts+ for dressing)

Wednesday 6/5:  Tandoori Chicken (3 pts+) with ¼ cup quinoa (4 pts+) and mixed vegetables (0 pts+)

Thursday 6/6:  leftovers

Friday 6/7:  Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas (8 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Saturday 6/8:   Treating myself to takeout 

Week 20 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -3.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.4 lbs

Not only did I make up for last week’s bad choices, but I finally hit the 30 pound mark!!   I had hovered so close to it at week 18 that I was thinking I was never going to get there after last week’s minor setback.  I put in some major workout time this week between running & a boot camp class I started and I ran my farthest distance to date – 4.14 miles!  I wasn’t planning on running this far, it just kind of happened.  I signed up for a 5k run at work but when I clocked it with my running GPS app, it clocked in at just a little over 4 miles.  It’s possible that my GPS could be slightly off, but my body could tell that it was certainly longer than 5k.  I also improved saw an improvement on my time per mile. 

While it’s great to see the numbers on the scale moving, even if they weren't I can definitely see a change in my body and am seeing more definition and toning coming out.  According to weight watchers, I’m almost to my goal.  And from looking in the mirror I’d have to agree with them.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu (a couple things fell off the menu last week due to some switches so am trying them for this week):

Sunday 5/26:   Nothing fancy.  We BBQ’d on our own.  Veggie burger (no bun) for me and hot dogs for the boys.

Monday 5/27:  Nothing.  Attending a Memorial Day BBQ.

Tuesday 5/28:  Leftovers (going to subway series baseball game)

Wednesday 5/29:  15 Minute Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry with ½ cup brown rice (10 pts+)  

Thursday 5/30:  Taco Thursday! (using ground turkey & whole grain shells 6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Friday 5/31:  Spicy Sweet & Sour Chicken with ½ cup brown rice (8 pts+) 

Saturday 6/1:   Nothing.  (Having a girl’s night out)

Week 17 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.0 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -29.0 lbs

A slightly bittersweet week for me.  While I may have just missed the 30 lb mark, I did achieve a few other milestones that I’m pretty psyched about:  (1)  I’m now within 10 lbs of the goal number I was forced to put into WW (2)  I tried on my “skinny” pants (which are 4 sizes smaller than where I started) and got them to button (not all that comfortably but they went on!!) (3) I’ve lost 15% of my body weight

I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished over the last 4 months.  Hard to believe that it’s only taken 4 months for me to get this far but at the same time it feels longer than 4 months that I’ve been cooking and eating this way.  Maybe that’s a good sign that my brain is catching on that this is a lifestyle change and that in order maintain what I’ve worked so hard for I’m going to need to continue to eat like this (or close to it).

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 5/5:   nada.  I stuffed myself with a late lunch at a baby shower I attended so no cooking (and no dinner really) tonight

Monday 5/6:  Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs (7 pts+) with Garlic Roasted Cauliflower (0 pts+) (this again fell off the menu again last week and we ended up eating out Friday. Oops ;)  Definitely making it tonight)

Tuesday 5/7:  Leftovers (volleyball night)

Wednesday 5/8:  Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake (6 pts+) with Miracle Noodles (0 pts+)

Thursday 5/9:  Spicy Korean Tacos (8 pts+ for 2 tacos) I substituted ½ cup of pre-cooked chicken breast strips for the tofu

Friday 5/3:  Tuscan White Beans with Spinach, Shrimp & Feta (7 pts+)

Saturday 5/4:   Leftovers or take out (Saturdays are crazy between tee ball & birthday parties we have every weekend)