Day 4

Made everybody waffles. Used our new Grade B Organic Maple Syrup. I had a taste of the syrup; it was yummy! (And, Whole30 approved)

I had the hamburger stuffs I made for dinner last night and will probably have it again for lunch. I need to go grocery shopping again. O____O

Day 3

I need to be more creative. And that will happen as soon as I have more energy. Usually I just wait to get out of bed minutes before Jimmy leaves for school. This morning, though tired, I actually got out of bed. My body feels a little weak still, but at the same time, some energy/liveliness. I'm way tired because Joss thinks he needs to go through a growth spurt and is eating 3x in the night.

I made bread in the breadmaker. White bread; which, I know.. I need to NOT make that. Horrible stuff. Anyway, I was sooooo strong and didn't have a crumb! I made the boys sandwiches. I guess those ingredients are better than what's in the store bought, right? I just need to figure out a way to make healthy bread. Paleo bread falls apart sooo easily.

Been having leftovers lately. No new recipes. Last night I did make hamburgers for dinner. Wrapped in lettuce with homemade mayo! I mashed an avocado with the mayo (too tired by then to make the Dreamy Avocado Ranch dip) and ate it as a "dressing."


Symptoms:
Tired by 7:30pm!

Day 2

I should title these something more original, huh?

I think both of us are already experiencing some detoxification symptoms. Headaches! I guess it's better than the flu-like symptoms that may or may not come along. ;) Whose idea was this anyway? Ha ha, it'll get better.

Bfast: I woke up, head pounding, and sat in bed with Joss in my lap wondering what in the world I'd make for bfast. Once I got out of bed, I Googled something like "sweet potato paleo recipes" and clicked on one of the first ones. I came across this and was totes excited (even though the name of it makes me puke thinking about actual Hamburger Helper)! It was also for the GAPS diet! So, instead of sweet potatoes, I used carrots as it suggested. I omitted the coconut flour because Jimmy doesn't like coconut anything. I think once his gut is cleansed and healed, he will like more foods. He is the pickiest eaters on this planet. Pretty sure. I also didn't add any greens to the stuff, so we'll just have Romaine lettuce and tomatoes and avocados on the side. The more green the meal looks, the less chance of Jimmy trying it. But, he does OK with salad. Oops, forgot to add garlic. Oh, well--Joss will thank me later. I cooked up 2 fried eggs for Jimmy to go with it, too.

Jae came and ate most the carrots out of the pan.

Lunch: We had leftover breakfast stuff and Jimmy had a chicken salad.

Dinner: Chuck roast (that didn't turn out so well because I didn't have the crockpot ready), grapes, raw carrot, avocado, lettuce.

**
And, sorry to disappoint, but there's been a little misunderstanding. See, with ADD I forget things I have told Jimmy and then it creates a war with words. Nothing terrible, just frustration on my end. The diet is a no-go. I will just worry about myself and heal myself first. It's been very difficult to do this diet with picky eaters. I feel like the world's worst mother, world's worst wife, and just a waste of space. This is not a pity party, so no need to sympathize. I'm just saying what's on my mind and will regret later it's on the interwebz. >_<

I KNOW that Gaps Diet and Whole30 can reduce symptoms in the body. Mental, physical... it can help. No one on the Facebook wants to believe me and they all think I'm crazy for posting things in regards to healthy eating. These diets also give you energy once the die-off phase has passed.

So, for now I guess I am solo on this diet. Don't get me wrong, Jimmy was very supportive of this, but there were other things that are making this difficult to continue on. I'm super depressed, super frustrated, and super annoyed. I wish I could tell you the underlying reason for wanting us all to do this, but that will have to wait.

Wish me luck as I continue on. I'm tired of my children being too hyper, tired of my house being a mess, tired of my kids not sitting still in church (yes, I do believe Whole9 can help with this), tired of being tired, tired of people telling me diet won't change the way you feel, tired of working so hard these past couple of days all for nothing.

Day 1

Last night for "date night" we went to Wegman's. I wouldn't really call it a date because Jimmy stayed in the van with the boys while I went in to get groceries. I had to go FAST because it was just minutes before I would get the text saying, "Joey says potty."

I left a lot of groceries out because my brain is scattered and even though I had a list, I had to omit some stuff and then I forgot some of the good stuff. Blah. At least it's Saturday and I can get more things at Giant.

Bfast: I made some random mixture. I was supposed to use ground pork, but I didn't see any in my rush in Wegman's, so I got ground turkey. (Gross. Never again! I hate the way it smells and tastes and the tiny crunchy things I bit into.) There's mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and ground turkey with some seasoning like salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil. I added avocado on the side and cooked Jimmy 2 fried eggs. The plate is supposed to be full of veggies around the meat, but I didn't. I was already terrified of what everyone was going to pick at and say, why put MORE veggies on? Baby steps, guys.

Jimmy ate breakfast with me and it was awesome and I'm so happy (and amazed and proud) that he ate everything on his plate! He liked the turkey, but hated the zucchini. I asked him if I could take a picture of that face he's making. "What face?" "The this-is-disgusting-and-I-want-to-throw-up face." Ah, what a trooper. :) I hated the turkey, but loved the zucchini. Jae had a couple zucchini "moons" too. 

It's going to be worth having a better diet. And, yep, I'm going to be one of those mothers who will buy mostly organic produce, grass-fed meats, and not let my kids have sugar. I bought a spiral veggie slicer, so hopefully we can have fun making meals together! And not chop off fingers!

Lunch: I bought one of these spiral slicer contraptions:

I thought it'd be a good idea to use up leftovers. Leftover mix from bfast with homemade spaghetti sauce that was sittin' in the fridge and I put it over zucchini noodles. 

It was horrible. 

Hor-ri-ble.

I apologized to him for making such crappy meals so far. In my head it sounded good. That turkey really is awful, though. Jimmy really hates zucchini. So, he suggested getting the leftover breaded pork loin  that was in the fridge. He scraped off as much breading as he could. And then I got the pistachios out and we ate a bunch of those. Guys, I'm no chef, obviously, so hopefully I can improve. This was much easier last year when it was just me on the diet. I stress about pleasing the crowd and failed today as Jimmy starved at work. In my defense, I did tell him he should take some pistachios to snack on while he was there. He chose not to.

Dinner: Made a whole chicken in the crockpot after I fed the boys Annie's Mac & Cheese at 10:30AM. It wasn't as tasty as I was hoping. My cooking skills will never go above Level 1. Where's Cooking Mama when you need her? Anyway, we had avocado with the chicken, I had more zucchini, and sweet potato fries. The best part of dinner was the sweet potato fries! How have I been missing out my entire life!? I just used olive oil and Mediterranean sea salt. They were divine! Jimmy gave them a 7. (He'd rather have a Russet.) 

Spiritually Fed:

I was invited via FB to join my friend in a March reading of The Book of Mormon. Start of finish. She does this yearly and I've always declined because I am the world's slowest reader and never felt that I could take it on. I figured since I was starting Whole30, I could tackle it as well. How slow I am to remember the detox stage. LOL! My head hurts, I'm so tired. But, I finished the rest of my 17 pages tonight. Earlier I read to Jae while Joey was napping and Joss on his playmat. It was fun to talk about the scriptures with Jae. I read him 6 pages and would discuss little things here and there. I told him that Lehi's family had to leave their home because Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. All they took was food, water, a tent, and they left with his family. I asked him what he would bring with him if we were asked to leave our home. He said, "Um, my truck blanket! It will keep me warm in case it gets cooooold!" :)

Symptoms:

Jimmy: Brain fog, lethargic, tired 

Me: Tired, lack of motivation, and see ADD tab for everything else LOL!

Jae: **Whiny/Meltdowns over the small things, runs around in circles

Joe: **Tantrums. Tantrums. Tantrums.

Joss: Overly adorable. This cannot be cured I'm sure!

**I realize they are just toddlers, but I can almost guarantee by taking out the sugar that there will be a LOT less whining and tantrums.

Meal Planning

I hate it.

I hate meal planning!

I started a couple of nights go and I'm still trying to finish it so I can go to Wegman's and get the goods. I blame my ADD. It honestly isn't because I have 3 children and a husband in law school. I have time at nights, well, sort of. Joss is pretty demanding of my time at night. But, I do have time to sit and figure things out. If only I could finish. I'm going to have to before the weekend gets here, though!

I'm anxious to start Whole30 up again. March 1 is the big day! I'm tired of having no energy. I'm tired of actually SEEING myself gaining weight. (Yup, petite people gain weight, too.) I'm tired of my boys being out. of. control.  I'm not expecting that they will be perfect little angels, but I'm expecting to see some change; some calm. Jimmy's bloated, needs more energy, and other stuff.

No more Gogurts for the kids. No more juice boxes (even though I buy the Fruitables; hey, I like to justify choices.) No more unbleached flour. No more bread. No more feeling like garbage!

Wish us luck!

Recipe to try

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/41781593486/whole30-day-29-garbage-stir-fry-with-curried-cabbage

Day 1.. for realsies!

I'm starting again with the Whole9 Program. I plan on eating grains in 30 days, but not sugar! As for the other stuffs (dairy, legumes, etc.) I don't know if or when I will re-introduce those. Jimmy is cooking me up a bunch of chicken for today and I will probably have him do all my other meats. :P He cooks amazing meats with his iron skillet.

For breakfast I had half of a banana to keep me from starving as I fed the boys and did the dishes. The boys had egg+cheese wraps. The rest of my bfast was a kale and cabbage salad (Costco) with grilled chicken. I know, I need a healthy fat, too. Ran out of avocados! Going to Wegman's today to get a bunch of stuff... maybe. It's windy out and a high of 38 with 19MPH winds. Brr.

I'm also eating this salad withou dressing. I love dressing. Anyway, this is the salad:

It has a bunch of other good veggies in there, too! This has a poppyseed dressing (which I can't have) and dried cranberries with pepita seeds! SO GOOD!

For lunch:

For dinner:

Also, this is the difference between Whole9 and Whole30: http://whole9life.com/faq/