Day 2

Day 2 is brought to you by apple crumble. “What, what, whaaa” you say? Don’t worry I have people to share it with so it’s only the equivalent to less than a handful of nuts. They are almonds. This stuff is pretty great. With dairy being back in the game, that means kwwhipp cream on top. I forgot about how filling milk is. If I put milk in my coffee, I do not need to eat until lunch. Thank goodness for level 2. In the beginning (I can’t ever say that without thinking of Genesis)I thought, level 3 is the most hardcore, obviously that is the one I need to do.

I think the levels are more about being honest with yourself. I love cheese, and I like milk in my coffee. I really enjoy yogurt and cottage cheese. With dairy in my life, it’s easy to say, “I’ll have the cheese plate” for dessert. Then I don’t feel left out during dessert time. It also does not wreak havoc on me.

It’s day two of for reals 21 DSD and I’m feeling pretty ok. Within the next coming days we will find out if it was the cashews that leached my energy.

As for life updates, we are in the new house. That’s the back yard, with the local dog beach and best surf break around, behind the fence pictured above.(weeeeeeeeeeeeeee) Hearing the ocean at night makes me giggle. Seeing the sunset on the ocean is pretty glorious. The beagles love their backyard and they have a trial at doggie daycare on Thursday. Let’s hope Duncan can keep his humping under control for the day. He’s had over excitement issues in the past. Hopefully, we can finally find out if the beagles have an “american howl”. That’s all for now, I love the comments. I can see you guys are reading this from all over the world. So umm… say Hi!

Again we go!

I stopped blogging. I felt crappy and I turn into a recluse when I don’t feel well. I was really perturbed as to why I didn’t feel amazing.It was day 18 and I realized I was eating food I shouldn’t have been the whole time! The offenders: cashews, sweet potatoes, arrowroot flour, and grapeseed oil.

I was eating cashews like it was my job. Apparently, eating more than a handful will put the brakes on weight loss, and it can start to mess with your ability to absorb nutrients. It really isn’t only cashews here’s some interesting info from Mark’s Daily Apple on nuts:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/nuts-and-phytic-acid/#axzz3iPprc9SU

I am the person he talks about. If you tell me it’s ok to eat something, I will go “nuts” on it. I was feeling really tired regardless of how much sleep I was getting. I think I am going to try to just avoid the nuts for a while. I also read an article about how they are not good for your skin?!

Anyway I have started over today! If anyone would like to start the 21 Day Sugar Detox again with me that would be awesome. This time I am doing Level 2 which includes dairy.

http://21daysugardetox.com

I will win this sugar battle. Unfortunately, sugar is more addictive than cocaine. The havoc that it reeks on your body is terrible.

Tonight for dinner I made grilled lettuce, with chicken topped with brie. Lamb and bacon wrapped asparagus. Lots of protein :D.

Truffles

The truffles above are a “non sweet treat” that are in the 21DSD cookbook. They are made of almond butter, coconut butter, raw cacao, a little vanilla, and coconut or cacao nibs and goji berries. I left out the coffee that it suggested. I also added goji berries. I figure they are not really sweet so they can join the party.

If you want the Kindle version of the cookbook, it is here: http://www.amazon.com/The-21-Day-Sugar-Detox-Cookbook/dp/1936608138

or

http://21daysugardetox.com

These little bits of glory are my saving grace! I really wanted dessert tonight. Then I found it. The “non sweet treat” part of the cookbook. (Que choirs of angels) Knowing that I can have a treat, that is not going to derail my progress is wonderful. They were also ridiculously easy to make and took a grand total of 5 minutes.

They have these handy little packs of coconut butter here. They come in 4 tbs sizes. Typically, getting coconut butter out of a jar is a task. The little packs are super easy. Just put them in a warm bowl of water, and whala! Melty, easily used, coconut butter.

I stopped by our new house today to check on it and see if we had mail. The mail box here should be referred to as the danger box. Or maybe “Letter box, home of deadly spiders”. As I was laughing about the likelihood of a nasty spider being the place where hands go without looking, I was greeted by my new friend. She was an Australian Redback, cousin to the Black Widow we have in the US. I let her live. Hopefully she got the message that new tenants are coming. Now that I look at the photo I see her nest. Fligahasdfhaslkfajh…belelegarreadd….kakakkakkeke. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

(Side rant. My MacBook likes to auto incorrect me. It drives me nuts. Especially when I re-read my blog after I post it and it’s all sorts of messed up.)

Well, it is time for me to become the meat in a beagle sandwich. If you have ever cuddled with Duncan or Penny you know what I mean. I am going to attempt to wake up early and go to crossfit! Wish me luck!

Still going strong!

This blog update comes to you from my potato filmed keyboard. Now you might be thinking “If you’re eating strict paleo, why are you eating potatoes?” The answer, I made dog food. I’ll get into more of why I am admit about making dog food at some point but today is not that day. After all it’s been over a week! Not one sneaky little cheat .

I do feel great. My clothes are starting to get looser. I have more energy and my memory is getting awesome. Apparently, part of the beginning of this cleanse is to have flu like symptoms. Maybe starting this while being sick wasn’t the best plan of attack. I finally feel great now. No more sickness!(touch wood)(or knock on wood if you’re not Australian)

Since I haven’t posted in a few days, I’ll give you a run down of how I stayed on track.

Isolation. Now you may be picturing my on an island, with one palm tree and an awesome kitchen. This was not the case. I worked some decently long hours, so I prepped my buns off. Then I brought a bunch of 21DSD friendly groceries to the site. Although it is not ideal out there, they have a fridge, microwave, and a skillet.  You might be surprised at just how many ways you can use an electric skillet. Poached eggs, no prob, stuffed peppers (aka capsicum) too easy, the list really went on and on. Adapting recipes to different cooking and prepping mediums is awesome. This leads me to reading recipes about using your dishwasher to cook and wash the dishes at the same time. (Seriously, if you have some time google this.)

If I am not around “bad” food, I typically don’t think about it. Maybe you think a busy time in your life is not a good time to try a new diet. I disagree. If you can prepare your food and freeze it. It gives you the chance to focus on whatever the thing is that is making you busy and not worry about food.

When I got home on Tuesday night I was treated to one of the best things about Australia. A pork roast and crackle. We won’t talk about what crackle is because it creeps me out. Let’s just say it’s a crispy, salty, piece of animal byproduct that is delicious. It’s pictured above.

I have started vicariously living through the food other people eat. On Tuesday, I went into this super cute tiny town called Mingenew. They have the basics that any town would have, a post office, police station, school, and … a Bakery! I had to go in and get a coffee. There were jerkish, tiny strawberry rhubarb pies laughing at me. Carrot cake grinning from its’ top shelf home, with it’s delicious cream cheese frosting dribbling down the sides. I knew I couldn’t be trusted bringing one of these home.

So I got a loaf of artisan bread. The kind of bread that you want to put a whole wheel of brie on and eat it for dinner. I think I smelled this loaf 10 times before I asked Peter’s brother Gary to please eat it and describe how awesome it was.

One thing this bakery did have was Lupin flour. I have never heard of it. I guess it’s gluten free, but I still need to research it to see if it is good.

I have a plan to start crossfit tomorrow up here. I hope it’s as welcoming as the one in Rockingham. They were super nice.

Well I’m “knackerd”  not sure if that is how it’s spelled but’s that’s how it sounds. I’m going to try to get in some very important sleep. And before I forget to mention it, I am an Aunt!!!!! He’s the cutest little man on the planet. I can’t wait to hold him, spoil him, and teach him things :D.

Just keep swimming.

Every single time I drive by a pasture full of sheep I think of ” If I had words, to make a day for you, I’d sing you a morning, golden and true. I would make this day last for all time…then fill the night deep in moonshine”. I love that sheep pig.

The diet feels easy today. I have left overs of pretty much everything. No cooking is necessary today. I cannot wait for my body to feel strong enough to work out again. I just feel completely drained of energy. This could be because I woke up at 4:00 am to support a launch that was scrubbed today and I’m still a but sick (crook). Let’s hope it goes tomorrow.

I started the day with a huge breakfast. The dogs were envious because it was mostly meat and eggs. Salmon for lunch and meatloaf for dinner. I can’t eat meatloaf without thinking ” Do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?Will you take me away and will you make me your wife? ” #childofthe80s

The dogs came to work today. That maybe wasn’t the best idea. Penny will use her beagle tactics to find me. Even if I’ve locked her up and I’m on the other side of the site. I should really train her to be a search rescue dog. It was raining and I see little Penny in a sprint coming down the road. Ten minutes later Duncan made the same journey. I’m pretty sure she’s the first dog to see a ranging laser up close. Is it terrible that I find it awesome and hilarious?

Luckily, my coworkers are amazing. Today one of the guys said “I have good times and I have bad times. Sharing the bad times just makes people sad. So why do it.” His circumstances make it pretty incredible for him to say that. I’ll try to practice that theory.

One down, twenty to go.

I’m a working gal again. Yeah, that’s right vacation life is over for now. I’m never hungry in the morning and always underestimate how much food to bring to work. I was sick of nuts by 1:00 and they were my snack. The orange taunted me. Now normally I would eat the crap out of an orange. However, the 21DSD is all about changing your taste. I can have one green apple, green banana or grapefruit per day. None of them being sweet, but more sour. After twenty-one days I should eat an orange and be like THE ORANGE IS AMAZING.

But it hasn’t been twenty-one days. It’s been one. So naturally I can only think about what I can’t have. Now I haven’t been to Hungry Jacks since I was literally 17. Ok, I have never been to an actual Hungry Jacks because they are called Burger King in the U.S. I’m craving things I don’t even eat.

Exhibit A. Hersey’s Sundae Pie.

First off, they don’t sell them in Australia. Not even at Hungry Jacks,but it’s all I can think about when I drive past the sign. Now that I’ve had dinner, I do not want it as bad or at least that is what I’m telling myself. Someday we should be able to 3D print food. You just search the internet and your pantry robot tells you the ingredients. Of which, you put in their slot in the pantry and BAM. Whatever you were craving has been created.  I’m super tired today.

Luckily, it was Salmon night. A fifteen minute dinner solution, I topped it with a caper, olive, oregano smashed thing. Normally, I would take the time to look up the proper adjective but I can’t be bothered. Penny and Duncan like Salmon too.

By the way, all of these recipes can be found here: http://balancedbites.com/21dsd

They are recipes I use all the time and the 21 DSD has all sorts of neat information. I’ll go into it more when I’m not a zombie. It’s 8:30 and I’m going to bed.

21 DSD Day 0

It is day 0, I had to finish off the delicious chocolate balls. Tomorrow will be day 1. They have coconut sugar in them and that would be cheating. I prepped like a mad woman today. Mini mexi meat loafs, buffalo chicken egg muffins and green apple breakfast sausage. That should cover breakfast for the next few days, dinner tonight and tomorrow, and a few random lunches. I like to listen to Kat Edmonson mixed with Big Band while I cook. It’s my secret world (I guess not so secret now) where I dance and use my wooden spoon as a musical instrument.

I am really great at destroying a clean kitchen when I’m cooking. If you have been to my house and I didn’t cook for you this is the reason. Peter is a champion at it. He has a “clean as you go method”. I’ll admit it works sometimes, but when I’m super ultra multi-tasking, it’s not a priority for my brain.

I am not sure if I mentioned it yesterday but I’m just getting over sickness. Apparently, everyone is sick here. This is another sign that I am not nourishing my body correctly. This brings up the whole germ vs terrain theory. The gist of this is that if your terrain (body’s ecosystem) is properly functioning it will right itself. It can only properly function when it gets the proper nutrients.

For some reason my personal shopper (I like to think of a guy with white gloves picking out all the best produce) gave me a loaf of bread and miso soup. I’m not really sure why. I feel bad wasting it and encouraging others to eat bread. It is like I am poisoning them. I realize if they are bread eaters they will happily accept the bread. There is still a small part of me that is like DON’T eat it! It is not good for your ecosystem!

Meals and snacks are packed. I am prepared for Day 1. The dogs are all mellowed out to the music. It’s cold. I’m not sure if Penny is glaring at me or thinks if she pretends like she’s sleeping that I will give her food. I’m guessing it’s glaring. When I don’t give her food she stares at me and slowly closes her eyes until the cuteness is unbearable. I caved.

Holy Shit Balls.

So maybe online grocery shopping has it’s downfalls. As in, if you select tomorrow when you’re shopping at the servers midnight not your midnight you get your food a day later. So my prepping may have to wait a day. Which is fine because I came across something I will only refer to as “Holy Shit Balls”. Firstly, because they look like little poops. Secondly, Paleo Cocoa Puffs?!?! Are you kidding me? After doing a mental inventory of my ingredients, I quickly realize in just 50 minutes I can fulfill one of my guiltiest pleasures sans guilt.

The recipe is here http://paleomg.com/guest-post-paleo-cocoa-puffs/

The photo is much better here too. I was in a hurry to eat them.

I made it. I’m am guilty of eating dough. I feel like it’s a measure of what it will be like. I might be totally wrong but whatever. The dough was amazing. When I made the balls smaller I feel like the results were better. But after one bowl, I was over it. The first 6 bites were amazing. I ran out of vanilla while making it. That could be the reason it wasn’t phenominal. If you feel the urge to make this, I would half the recipe, that’s my two cents. I wonder what they say here “Do you want to hear my five cents”. They do not have pennies.

21 Day Sugar Detox.

So I did it. I finally committed to making a place to put all my food pictures, workout stories, and food adventures. I have been punishing my Instagram and Facebook friends for far to long. But seriously, who doesn’t like paleo breakfast pizza?!

Whenever I drastically limit my diet. I always look back and say “How did I really feel when I was eating this way?”. By digitally archiving my feelings, I will always know the answer.

If you’re not into eating paleo, doing silly workouts and having a possibly unhealthy love for two of the cutest dogs on the planet (seriously I’m not biased) this may not be your cup of tea. Or “cuppa” as they call it here. I’m not entirely sure if “cupa” is a cup of anything or just coffee. I will investigate.

Anyway I digress, it all started back in 2009 (que nostalgic music of choice). I started eating paleo and realized I didn’t have to wake up and feel like I’d been hit in the face with a frying pan every morning. If I ate the SAD (Standard American Diet) I felt this way. I had so much inflammation in my face it’s as if my cheeks were trying to eat my eyes. I’ve been on again off again paleo since then. I had a really bad year last year. When I say bad I mean delicious but terrible for sustaining human life that doesn’t involve a one way train to Obie City.

Earlier this year I tried the 21-day sugar detox. It was amazing. I remember feeling uncontainabley happy. My co-workers were seriously concerned as to why I was waking up so happy. Before I moved to Australia in March, I decided I needed to eat everything I was going to miss in Australia. I’m not sure if I regret this by my body sure does.

I’ve started cross-fit, and today marks my first day of THE 21 DAY Sugar Detox. (Said like an announcer in monster truck arena, crowds are cheering) I’m not sure if the everyone out there knows about online shopping for your groceries but it’s a big thing here. It has saved me a ton of time. Especially, because when you are shopping for things you are not used to, it’s hard to find it in the store. I end up faced with a wall of chocolate and I am not ready for that kind of willpower today.

The 21 DSD has meal plans which make online shopping a breeze. If you are cooking for one person, I freeze half of the meals and eat them next week. It may seem expensive as you’re pilling all the ingredients into your cart (trolley) but if you do the math per meal, per person, it’s pretty efficient. I’m off to go pick this stuff up!