Day 5/30. Day 1/6

Day 5 of 30 on our Whole 30 diet.  I know I have some teacher and math friends that would have been concerned that I didn't reduce the fraction in the title, so that's why I have both 5/30 and 1/6.  You're welcome folks. 

Also, this is probably going to be absurdly boring for some of you fine folks.  Feel free to just skip to my other blog here and go see cute pictures of my girls.

Whole 30.  So far, it's going great.  I realize we're early in, but we are off to a good start, I think.  I've been really encouraged with how the meals have gone so far, and I hope that continues.  Since I stay at home all day and don't work outside the home, I feel we have an advantage in that regard to our meals and meal planning.  Others who have done this diet indicated that prepping on the weekend was crucial for them during the week, and that isn't the case for us since I can work on things during the day.  For example, yesterday I made French salad dressing, mayo, pico de gallo and clarified butter all from scratch.  Jesse and I don't typically ever use mayo, but it was a challenge that needed done in the back of my mind, and I'll be able to use it to make Ranch dressing and chicken salad and other variety options.  Plus, I just got an immersion blender and I'm so ridiculously excited with that thing.  Ridiculously excited. 

So, what have we been eating?  I'm glad you asked.  I am trying to keep a wide variety in our meals.  Lunches so far have just been leftovers for Jesse and kind of whatever I find for me: plenty of salads, lettuce wraps, brats, etc. 

Day 1. 

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with mushrooms, green onion, sausage and Frank's hot sauce. 

Dinner: salmon with guacamole, roasted cauliflower (minus the parmesan cheese), salad and asparagus. 

Day 2.

Breakfast: avocado eggs (which weren't good), summer sausage and banana pancakes. 

Dinner: chicken cacciatore over spaghetti squash. 

Day 3.

Breakfast: steak hash. 

Dinner: pork chops, asparagus, salad and pudding. 

Day 4.

Breakfast: sausage patties, bell peppers, tomato and avocado. 

Dinner: coconut chicken, roasted beets and salad (with beet greens, of course!)

Day 5.
Breakfast: scrambled eggs (with Frank's!), summer sausage, carrots and peppers, sautéed mushrooms
Dinner: taco salad.

We discovered after the fact that the banana pancakes, while delicious, are anti diet.  Oops.  As is the pudding.  Oops.  The ingredients were approved, the idea was not.  Part of what I'm reading in the book, It Starts With Food, is about how food effects your hormones and brain function.  Now, I tried explaining this, but figured Jesse would read it and say it didn't make sense, so from the website,

"Eating eggs, a banana, and some olive oil is not the same as combining those ingredients into a pancake. There are studies that show that how your brain perceives the food influences satiation. This is often cited with liquid food (smoothies or shakes, as we reference in the back of It Starts With Food), but experientially we see this with whole foods as well, depending on how they are combined. Pancakes bring up a totally different psychological response than frying some eggs and eating a banana. And it’s that psychological response that we are trying to target with the program."

And since Jesse and I agree that we didn't see our egg/banana as different than a pancake, we wouldn't have them the rest of our diet.  But Jesse made sure to tell me they needed to be a thing when we were done.  The same with the pudding.  

As I said, I've been really encouraged reading the book.  Even if you have no desire to do this diet for a month, though I think you should, please consider reading the book.  

I've had two lightning bolt level moments of "whoa!" (accurate measurement) while reading this book.  The first was after this:

"Finally, an all too common refrain from clients, readers, and workshop attendees is, 'but I don't like vegetables!'  You know what we tell them? 

We don't care. 

...it doesn't matter if you don't like vegetables, because we're all grown ups, and sometimes, grown ups have to do things they don't like to do.  Like, or mow the lawn.  Or pay bills.  Or eat vegetables."

It goes on to detail the typical three reasons people claim they don't like vegetables, but you know, spoilers.  Go get the book and read it for yourself (ps, it's on page 156).  And as my wise dad says, eating healthy is cheaper than a heart attack.  So, how much do you value your health, or you know, being alive and having a good quality of life?  Enough to figure out a way to eat some vegetables? 

Watch out, I'm excited about this.  Check back in a week or so and see how grumpy I am about not having potatoes still. 

My second moment that spoke directly to me was about fruit:

"...your brain doesn't immediately differentiate between 'healthy' sugar like dried fruit and 'bad' sugar like a Snickers bar.   The only thing your brain knows is, 'I craved sugar and I got sugar.'  That's right, the message you just sent your brain is, 'I craved, I satisfied that craving, and I feel better now.' "

Oops.  This was me.  Totally unintentionally.  But, this is about changing the way we see food, and at the end of the day when I just want something sweet, having an apple or strawberries is still caving to a sweet craving just like grabbing a cookie.  The psychology behind this is intriguing to me. 

We haven't modified any of our meals for the girls, they eat right along side of us.  However, I am still giving them milk and other dairy products, breads and some of their favorite snacks still.  Like fruit snacks.  Judge appropriately, they're special treats in this house.

I don't want to bore you all on this, so I'll keep the rest of my initial thoughts to myself for now.  I put links to most of the delicious meals we've made, so if you're wondering what those things look like, go look at pictures of other people's food because I'm not taking pictures of 3 meals a day for 30 days.  I already struggle enough taking pictures of my girls daily.  But, as this is my blog and diary, I want to track what we are eating for the future.

Thanks for reading, your reward is now cute pictures of my girls.  Or, if you got bored near the top and scrolled down for pictures, here they are:

vacation

Last week, we embarked on our first family vacation as a family of 5 and headed to Houghton Lake in Michigan for a week of fun with Mom and Dad Hildebrand, Matt, Erin and Koleen.  The drive on the way up wasn't too bad, but Jesse and I had thought ahead and planned an overnight pit stop in Findlay so we didn't have to drive the entire 9 hours in one day.  Not that 9 hours isn't do able, but we didn't think we wanted to attempt that with our 3.  Turns out, they were champs on the way up, and we made it eventually to our rental cabin on the lake on Saturday.  

Sunday was my Emma Tornado's second birthday!  I can't believe she's already 2.  Where does time go?  We spent the day playing outside, relaxing, and Uncle Matt and Aunt Erin made a yummy birthday dinner and cake.  

My goal had been to make homemade cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast, but since we didn't get to the grocery until too late, I bought the mediocre canned ones.  After I complained about how they just weren't up to snuff Sunday morning, it was quickly suggested I go ahead and make some more from scratch on Monday, which I happily did.  Because who doesn't go on vacation and make homemade cinnamon rolls? 

The week went by too quickly, but we all had a good time.  Jesse was thrilled to beyond pieces- actual and technical term- that he got to go fishing, and even caught a few without hooking himself or anybody else.  A feat his dad didn't join in on and Wednesday (?) ended with a quick trip to the ER for Dad, Mom and Matt to get a hook out of Dad's thumb.  Quick is relative in Northern Michigan, like it is where we live: it took an hour to get to the hospital from our rentals.  Good news, Dad survived and kept his thumb in tact.

Kaylee was off her "A" game and was grumpy all week, but what can you expect from a 4 month old on a vacation?  We drank plenty of coffee, had wonderful chats, the girls loved playing together and were easily entertained by the heap of special projects Grandma had brought along.  Kole, who is 2 months older than Emma, believes that "Frozen" is hers, but she was quick to share and we had a sing along throw down between 3 little girls, and a few adults.  

We definitely had a great time.  I'm not sure I would use the term "relaxing" when we talk about vacation where my girls are still little, but we sure had fun.  I know the relaxing vacations will come when they are older and don't need a constant eye or care 24/7, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

In other news, Emma had her 2 year check up today and Kaylee had her 4 month.  Emma is average, weighing 25 lbs and standing 34" tall, putting her in the 50%, I believe.  Kaylee. is. huge.  That little cutie pie is 19 lbs and 29" long.  And off the chart.  I saw it.  She's in the red floating above everybody else.  

At 2, Emma is hilarious.  She is apparently now scared of any sort of bug that flies (ugh), loves to eat and snack all day, is not talking in complete sentences but can get her point across, has a quick temper but a faster laugh and grin.  Her favorite movie is "Frozen," and she also loves Mickey Mouse.  Her favorite animal is probably still a duck, though a cow may be close second, and she loves to do everything Lily is doing. 

look at those cheeks

happy birth day!

ONE!

TWO

At 4 months, Kaylee is trying to get up on her hands and knees.  I encouraged my mother in law to push her down when we saw her doing that on vacation.  Too soon.  She also is rolling all over the place and loves watching her sisters.  Lily is the best and loves to sing to Kaylee when Kaylee is upset, which calms her down.  And then Lily gets excited and runs over to tell me that "I calm-ded Kaylee down!"  But since her sister and song are gone, Kaylee starts crying again.  It's precious.  

that hair.  it kills me.

I realize I'm way behind in filling everyone in on my life, which I'm sure has left everyone in eager anticipation.  My apologies.  Apparently, life is busy with 3 little girls.  Who knew.  Nothing too excited else to report, though.  Jesse and I officially started our Whole 30 diet yesterday and I'm pleased to announce that coming to an end of Day 2, we're rocking this.  I am choosing to believe that it will be this easy the entire time, but we all know that's not going to be the case.  To recap for those unfamiliar, the Whole 30 is all about eating real food and changing your outlook of the food you put in your mouth.  If you haven't read the book or heard of the diet, I strongly encourage you to read It Starts With Food, because holy wow it's great.  For the next 30 days, we won't be consuming sugar, grains (including corn and rice), legumes and dairy, but loading up on proteins in the form of eggs, meat and lovely vegetables and fruits.  So far, it's been delicious.  You know, two days in.  We did thoroughly enjoy our 2 weeks of "practice" before vacation, and were amazed at how different we felt just after our trial run.  And the flip side, how awful we felt all of vacation because we were eating "regularly."  

Lily isms 21

Lily
"Don't worry, it's just me, the flying horse!"

Discussing needing to wait for strawberries to turn red before we pick them, and Emma was getting very enthusiastic about it.
Emma: red! Red! Wait! Red! (lots of hand gesturing was going on)
Lily: Emma, calm down!

"oh, this is just lovely!"

Lily: what day is it today?
Jesse: it's Sunday.
Lily: *looks up at the rainy sky* no it isn't, there's no sun! It's Rainday!

Lily: can I have chocolate (syrup) in my mouth?
Me: no.
Lily: can I have some of this (Reddi Whip) in my mouth?
Me: no.
Lily: WHY CAN'T I HAVE ANYTHING IN MY MOUTH?!

"ugh, Emma, for real?!"

"soccer is beautiful! "

"I just had to erase for a second. My picture was a 'saster!"

The girls were watching Brave:
Emma: Elsa! Elsa! Elsa!
Lily: well, it's kinda like Elsa (Frozen), but kinda not.

*gasp*" I'm about to sing my song! Let-it-go-let-it-go-the-snow-blows-white-on-the-mountain-top!"

Emma: LILY! LILY!
Lily: Momma! Emma is saying my name real loud!

Emma
She was trying to sing the Jake and the Nederland Pirates theme song:
"pirate, me!"

"peeky you!"

Lily: my name is Lily!
Emma: Lily Lily Lily!
Lily: NO! THAT IS MY NAME NOT YOURS!
Emma: Lily! Me!

Day 5

Hopefully nobody is getting absurdly bored here.  Jesse and I were talking last night how we are still very excited about this diet, and while we obviously both think things like donuts and Doritos sound good, we aren't craving them.  Which is incredible, especially for me. 

The book, "It Starts With Food," is so encouraging.  I should have read it before we started this, but I'm glad I'm reading it now.  I told Jesse I was really enjoying reading it, I just need a little more cooperating from the girls so I can just sit and read all day and finish!  Haha as if that will happen!  The authors do a great job explaining the sciences behind why food is addictive and encouraging you to consider removing certain foods from your diet.  They even show you how and why the over the top processed foods aren't really food anymore by the time the manufacturer is done with it, and from that point on, have referred to them as "Frankenfood," which is just funny. 

Yesterday was a good day.  We got some things done, and meals turned out delicious.  Win win.  The energy levels were up from Thursday, and we both felt good. 

For breakfast, I scrambled a few eggs with fresh parsley, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  I also made a few sausage patties from the pig we'd had butchered.  We aren't actually positive of the ingredients in it, and there probably is sugar in the spice mix, but I need to call to be sure.  And for a vegetable, I fried some onion and bell peppers in coconut oil.  Yum. 

For lunch, I didn't know what to have, so I loaded a salad with pepperoni, vegetables and a few walnuts for crunch.  Homemade Ranch dressing on top and it was yummy also. 

Dinner was a little too spicy, but really good. 

I made tilapia with the same rub I'd used on the salmon a few days ago.  I steamed some broccoli and put clarified butter on top, homemade coleslaw and a first attempt at sweet potato fries, which were incredible I thought.  

The coleslaw had a little too much zing, but I'd used dry mustard and haven't really cooked with that before so I didn't know how peppy it was.  I'd cut that back next time.  The fries were delicious, but a little too much pepper, so I'd tone that down, too.  And, the spice mix was really similar to the fish rub?  So I either need to not serve them together or change one of the spice sets when serving them together.  That might be one of those weird quirks of mine, like not serving all the same color food, or not liking foods with similar tastes being served together.  Like a plate of all deep fried food?  Gross.  And that isn't just the diet talking.  We both gave it two thumbs up, regardless.  

Day 4

Yesterday morning was a bit of an emotional challenge. 

I feel a little pathetic complaining only a handful of days in, but I had started reevaluating our meal plan and I realized how off I was.  I stressed over that for awhile, getting upset that I was so unprepared and spent some time researching a better menu.  Of course, yesterday was the day for grumpy and needy girls, so I missed the fact I just needed to relax about food and spend time with the girls without worrying about my lists.  Kaylee needed extra cuddles, which I was on board with, but I really just wanted to work on my menu ideas and a revised shopping list.  

Jesse finally had a second to respond to my emotional texts with (basically), "calm down.  You just got the book, how could you have known last week?" which helped.  

After I went to the store, where I had to fly blind since I forgot my list at home- adding insult too injury- I felt like I had a better control of what I was planning.  I made some olive oil mayo and from that, Ranch dressing for dinner, and the girls kept me company while they played play dough, so we all survived the day. 

Jesse mentioned how strong his will is by going to a meeting that served breakfast sandwiches and hot pretzels and how good they smelled.  Sidenote: who serves that combination of food?  Do those go together?  Anyway, he said how it was difficult to sit through a meeting with that sitting in front of him, but he resisited.  I chuckled a bit since I'm home all day with food I can't eat glaring at me, so I know the struggle and said that I was proud of him.  I then told him my "I'm so proud of resisiting this" moment of the day: I bought the girls one chocolate frosted donut at the store to share.  One.  For them to share.  Not for me.  Look at us being strong! 

Breakfast was leftover quiche and some raw vegetables with almond butter. 

For lunch, I had lettuce wraps (sausage, guacamole and tomato) and maybe a banana?  I don't remember now. 

Dinner was a new recipe that I was pretty nervous about, but turned out well!  We had chicken cacciatore over fried summer squash and zucchini.  Turns out, Jesse isn't a big fan of zucchini.  He said dinner was "ok" But that I knew he didn't like zucchini.  I thought he just didn't eat it because I didn't make it, oops.  Clarification: I think zucchini bread is ok?  Anyway, by the end of the meal, he declared it good, and definitely enjoyed the sauce and chicken part, and would be fantastic over noodles.  The ranch dressing I'd made on the salad was so much better than the other two dressings I had attempted, so overall, success!  

Day 3

Day 3 was successful, we have continued to survive on our limited diet. 

For breakfast, I heated up a crust-less quiche I'd made the night before.  It was pretty good, made of sweet potatoes, green onion, fresh side, eggs and nutmeg.  Jesse had suggested a side of sautéed mushrooms and sliced tomatoes for veggies, and at breakfast, said, "I don't know that mushrooms really count as a vegetable here."  To which I said, "that's ok, tomatoes are a fruit anyway."  It's the little things that amuse us.  

The girls and I ran around again all morning and got home in time for lunches.  My biggest struggle yesterday was not making myself a grilled cheese sandwich like I made for them.  Instead, I had another sausage and gigantic salad.  Now that I'm putting in the open what I eat, you'll be able to judge how repetitive my meals are.  But it was good, and after a banana with almond butter, I was content. 

I started prepping dinner early.   I briefly discussed with Erin that I have a distinct advantage with this, because I can really make everything the day of in time for dinner, instead of others who have to be way more organized and prepped so they can still make their dinners without spending hours getting ingredients together.  I'm working towards that, but that's why I'm doing this "ish" for 2 weeks as a learning curve. 

That being said, we tried a delicious salmon recipe I'd found on Pinterest, topped with homemade guacamole.  As sides, we had a pile of fried carrots, brussle sprouts and salad with a new dressing I made.  Which was terrible, by the way.  

The girls both inhaled the carrots and salmon, and I'd out one sprout on each of their plates.  Emma went for that first and I was a bit surprised.  She chewed on it for awhile before spitting the rest out, but she'd tried, and really eaten most of it.  Lily and I had a battle of wills over her bite though.  Lots of tears, explanation of only needing to try one, a few bribes, letting Emma be excused and watch a few of Lily's favorite videos on YouTube, and eventually, holding her and feeding her a bite of brussle sprout covered in Parmesan cheese.  We hugged, and I told her it was ok not to like it, but when I put something new on her plate, she must try it.  I didn't ask her to like it, just to eat it even still.  She told me she didn't like it, and then asked if I would squirt some Reddi Whip in her mouth and if Jesse would replay,  "Let it Go" on his tablet for her to sing.  I told her I loved her and she said she loved me, so all is well. 

For the record, Jesse said the sprouts weren't his favorite either, but he ate them anyway.  Last time I made them, I drizzled maple syrup on them and he was sad I couldn't do that this time, haha so close to diet friendly. 

My book came yesterday, so I started reading, "It Starts With Food," and am very encouraged.  I got a little frustrated with the fact I want the answers to all my confusion and questions now, but know they will be addressed and covered later on.  The trials of reading books.  I did find a recipe in the back for homemade mayo and Ranch dressing, that are diet compatible, so that's the task for today.  Also, I need more celery.  In our 6.5 years of marriage, this is the first time we've ever eaten an entire thing of celery, as it normally goes bad before!  That was weird.  Anyway, I'm a bit discouraged right now, morning of day 4.  I have been making good enough meals, and it isn't the meat that's the problem: I just seem to not be hitting the mark and understanding yet how to handle all the veggies.  I guess I need to read more, but that's where I am right this minute.  I know the goal is about a hand sized portion of meat and the rest vegetables, but figuring out the hows and whats are currently annoying me.  I'm going to look some recipe ideas up and then go to the store, I think. 

Last thought: Jesse explained that with this diet, what we are eating for meals is enough that we shouldn't need snacks.  We feel snacks and hungry because of the type of food we are eating, and our bodies process and digest it faster into fats and such.  With this diet, our bodies take longer to figure out what to do with the meats and vegetables, so we aren't as hungry as quickly.  Does that make sense?  I will return to this when I've gotten there in the book, but I really paid attention to that and if I was actually hungry or not, and aside from a small handful of nuts in the afternoon, I didn't snack! 

Day 2

Well, we made it through day 2.  Jesse has really helped me out a lot with understanding the foods we can have and how much of what.  In my true form, I decided to do this without much research.  I had the general idea, but Jesse helped fill in the (major) gaps by doing extra reading and ordering the book, which comes today! so I can be caught up, too. 

Yesterday, I woke up feeling awful.  I felt sick, had a fever, extremely dizzy, etc.  Not fun, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to function at all.  Jesse helped me in the morning before he left for work, and by the time I convinced myself to have an apple, I was starting to feel a bit better.  

For lunch, the girls and I fried some bratwurst/sausage things and I had a huge salad.  My stomach was at least cooperating by this point, even though I was still dizzy. 

Dinner was delicious.  Minus the fact that I'm supposed to avoid snacking- which turns out to be my biggest struggle so far- I'm enjoying this so far.  You know, 2 days in.  

But for dinner, we had baked chicken with a dry rub I'd made before and loved, roasted cauliflower (which happens to be one of our favorite recipes anyway and is diet approved, hooray!), half a sweet potato each and some spicy mixed greens I sautéed with fresh side and a jalapeño.  We had avocado and pico de gallo on our chicken, and it was all very good, in my opinion. 

After dinner on Monday, Jesse asked if I felt any different throughout the day, and I told him I'd felt more energetic.  He thought about that for a second and agreed he did too.  Yesterday after work, he was about bouncing off the walls, he apparently felt so good.  I'm excited to see what happens a few more days into it. 

Whole 30ish

After talking to a handful of people and seeing another handful of my friends take part in a Whole 30 diet, I hesitantly told Jesse I wanted to incorporate some of the principles into our daily eating habits.  I sent him a link to their website, which briefly explained that the diet consists of cutting out grains, legumes, rice, sugars and dairy.  I say I was hesitant because while he will eat whatever I cook for him, I'm not going to just inform him that I'm cutting out his dairy options, no questions asked.  After a few questions about my how's and whys, of which I said I just wanted to give it a trial run to see how it goes, he proceeded to tell me either all or nothing: we do the entire 30 days or we weren't doing it.

So, why? 

Because it's there to be done.  We both realize we could eat much healthier, and it's really been aggravating to me recently how terrible our diet is.  Now, we eat better than many, but there's still a long way to go.  Really, my decision on this plan had several reasons:

1. I like how it sounds.  We have talked about going to a stricter, semi-paleo diet, but I didn't have the guts.  We don't have good grocery store options here, and I knew eating super healthy would take prep and planning, neither of which were high on my priority list, especially with kids.

2. We don't have to count calories or carb intake.

3. We still get to eat meat!  Even bacon!  But so far, we haven't been successful in finding any without sugar..

4. As crazy as it sounds, I like the idea of cutting out grains.  I'll explain that in a minute.

5. We need a kick start.  We both want to and need to have better diets in the daily food sense, and we need to lose some weight.  I hope and believe we will do better simply eliminating certain items instead of trying to track them.

6. Everyone I've talked to who has tried this diet has told me how awesome they feel at the end.  I'm all for feeling awesome.

7. We still get to eat real food.  Definitely a perk.

8. I love the idea of eating cleaner.  So much of what we eat could a day should be limited in our daily diet, and as opposed to decreasing amounts, I think I will be more successful at simply cutting them out.  Time will tell if I'm right! 

I may have stated the same idea several times there, sorry Jesse ;) 

And we'll be giving up what? 

Ok, so checking out at the grocery a few months ago, I was shocked and semi disgusted to see how many carbs we go through in a month.  That must be why they made conveyor belts, so you can see all your food items parade past.  Please know I am in no way an obsessive healthy eater: I hate those people.  Not really, but I'm so jealous of their time management to have things planned and ready to go, just waiting in the fridge to be used.  My brain just doesn't work that way, and as previously stated, we have mediocre grocery options for fresh produce.  We have gardens and farmers market during the summer, but that won't hold me over all year!  However, Jesse had explained to me how and why we should cut back on carbs, so watching the loaves of bread, bagels and pasta I had bought all go in a line was a wake up call.  And growing up, with Italian heritage, and busy playing soccer, pasta was our go to meal: quick, easy, delicious.  We had it weekly if not more often, and Jesse had to ask me our first year married to cut back on the pasta.  I didn't understand, doesn't everyone eat mass quantities of pastas?  Apparently not.  So while this will be a challenge with no breads either, I'm excited to try cutting it.

Sugar?  Ok, that one makes sense.  Plus with no self control, not even having it as an option for a "treat" will be good for me.

Dairy?  Now we're not so sure.. I have to give up cheese?  We'll see about that one.

No rice?  If we aren't having pasta or potatoes at a meal, there's rice.  This.. Ugh. Oh, and look: potatoes is on the list of things I can't eat.  Family, I know you all just fell out of your chairs in shock.

And snacks.  Apparently that's on the "avoid" list.  Jesse ordered me the book to read, I'll have to get back to you on this one.

And the sunny outlook..

I talked to my cousin briefly about this diet, as he and his wife have done it and adopted a variation of it as their daily menu.  He was very encouraging, and got me even more excited.  You read that right, more excited about cutting out food.  I think mostly for me, it's mental: I'm ready for a challenge.  Our meals had hit a routine slump, and you could probably figure out the day of the week based on what I made for dinner.  Maybe not that bad, but that's how I feel.  Additionally, we just need to do better, no other way around that.  I know Geoff has said he's never felt better in his life based on his food diet, and I'm looking for at least feeling better after I eat.  I'm craving a challenge, to be healthy, and feel good and I'm hopefully finding it this way and choosing to improve our eating habits.

After 30 days, 

We hopefully will continue with the healthier eating, with a few additions.  Until the next cycle, if we choose to detox with a strict month again, we may occasionally throw some rice, beans or a baked potato in, and we know I'll occasionally need some pasta.  But the goal is to continue with a much healthier eating style, and I'm excited.  Thank you, Pinterest, for inspiring many meals already.

So there you have it: I even blogged about it in an attempt to make sure I stay accountable.  And in case you don't like it when people post tons of pictures of food, just tune into a different blog for awhile, because I'm documenting this.  And, in an attempt to be honest and real, we aren't doing the whole 30 days right now.  We had vacation already planned and a few other things before I sporadically decided to "diet," so when we get back from vacation later this month, we will go all out for 30 days.  Until then, we are following the diet until our vacation.  So, maybe a we should call this Whole 30ish.  We WILL be doing the month, we just didn't want to wait several weeks to do it.  If you've done this diet before, please try and judge us easy, we are learning and the book doesn't come until tomorrow and like I said, we will be doing a full month after vacation.  Plus, we have 3 little girls to deal with, and my brain isn't always there.

Yesterday was Day 1.  It was delicious.  And really, for the first day, much easier than I anticipated.  My biggest problem was actually remembering I was on a diet.  I knew I was a grazer/slacker throughout the day, but little things like getting the girls a bowl of pretzels, I'd have one in my hand for me to eat before remembering.  That happened several times, I'd just go to grab an extra of whatever they were having.  That's a normal mom thing, right?  Other moms do this? 

For breakfast, I had an egg with pico de gallo I'd made for dinner the night before.  I'd have and more, but we only had one egg..

 I kind of forgot about lunch, as I was running around.  So it was 2 stalks of celery and an apple with almond butter, and a few handfuls of nuts.  Jesse lectured me that that wasn't acceptable, fear not, he took care of it.

Dinner, because we could, we had steaks.  Jesse grilled them, they were delicious, and we both decided we like this diet haha we also sauted asparagus and mushrooms in coconut oil and had a salad with homemade avacado dressing.

Jesse also sent me a link to portion sizes, so I'll be researching on that today.  Good thing we're practicing for a couple weeks before the real thing, we'll be much better prepared then.

I'm not sure if I will attempt a daily update here or a weekly one.  If it's daily, fear not people who follow the link from Facebook, I won't post updates daily and annoy your news feed.  People that get this directly emailed... Tough.  Fortunately, I know who you are and that you all love me, so I'm sure you'll bear with me, thanks.  And since you all made it to the end, pictures of the girls because I like them:

strong girls showing off their guns. and new suits. 

because she's adorable. 

That's about it!  If i get my act together, I'll actually post a life update soon.. 

Lily isms 20

"Emma keeps overing my show!"

Lily: I want brown bear!
Me: what?
Lily: brown bear! On my sweet potato.
Me: brown sugar?
Lily: yes! On my sweet potato!

Me: Lily, what should I make for dinner?
Lily: meat!

"here comes Little Riding Redhood!"

"Oh my goodness, Emma, we're going to get suckers! Can you believe it?!"

"Ah, nuts, are you kidding me?"

"I want to go soccer balling!"

"Momma, I like you. Sometimes I don't, but sometimes I do."
-- warms my heart.

"Bedtime, squirt!"

We were outside and I was squirting the girls with the garden hose:
Lily: Momma, can I spray you?
Me: no, I don't have my swim suit on.
Lily: well go put it on!

Lily: Daddy, where are you going?
Jesse: I have to go to work, it's Monday.
Lily: no it isn't, the sun is up in the sky, it's Sunday!

Guest appearance by Emma, who will start to be incorporated more:
Neighbor to Lily: Queenie (the cow) just had a baby! So can you guess what's down at our house now?
Emma: tractors!