21 Day Detox Challenge - Day 21!

I did it! I made it through 3 weeks of no alcohol, no grains, no dairy (and I LOVE cheese), no added sugar. There were a couple of cheats (two Quest bars, one instance of dark chocolate chips, and of course the re-introduction of coffee, which I don't really consider a cheat) but for the most part I pretty much stuck to the program. And what were my results you ask? 7 pounds down and 1.2% reduction in body fat. Not bad! But I'm not satisfied..... so I continue on this grain-free/dairy-free paleo-ish journey.... I've already picked out what I want to contribute to Thanksgiving.... 

I think my biggest accomplishment in the past three weeks was this past Thursday night at the A's game, the deciding game of the AL division series. The only times in my adult life that I have ever been to a baseball game sober is because I was hungover. We also usually get burritos beforehand and bring them in, but this time I opted out of both the burrito and the beer and instead brought my own healthy snacks and a bottle of water, after eating a sweet potato beforehand. I ended up not eating the banana and ate very little of the kale krunch (it tasted weird to me this time). I didn't feel deprived at all, it probably helped that it was an intense and exciting game... no one wanted to get up and get another beer or food and miss anything... unfortunately it did not end well and the season is over for the A's. Until next year...

Baseball snacks: kale krunch, plaintain chips, raw cashews, banana

The night before I splurged and went to In-N-Out after work where I got a protein style double meat mustard fried burger with grilled onions and no sauce (inspired by this blog).

I also asked for chilies but I think they forgot them... but it was still delish!

Today I went on a short hike with my mom. I decided to make my own trail mix with coconut flakes, plantain chips, dried apples, pecans, cashews, and dark chocolate chips. I think next time I will omit the apples as they contained a ton of sugar. Speaking of apples, I just found out that Granny Smith apples have the least amount of sugar of all the apples. I feel like I already knew that though.

Trail mix! Yummy.

I made this amazing shake this morning in the Vitamix. Kale, half an avocado, banana, wheatgrass, coconut water, and a carrot. It was super tasty!

Vitamix = Greatest investment ever

Sooo... what's next for me after this detox? The gym is putting on another one in January, I think I am definitely going to be doing it again. I was thinking of doing Whole30 in January, but doing something like this with a support group is a must. Knowing that other people are doing it alongside you keeps the motivation level high. Although I'm not planning on straying too far from the basics of the plan, I'm sure there will be red wine and goat cheese in the near future, also I miss greek yogurt. Plus the holidays are coming up and I am in love with pumpkin pie and that sugary cranberry sauce in the can with the ridges. Everything in moderation ;)

21 Day Detox Challenge - Day 9

I know I haven't been keeping up with this but I wanted to post some pictures of food I've been eating over the past week. Also I have to confess that I cheated on Friday and had a Quest bar...oops.

I got a Vitamix last week, and I love it! So far I've used to make carrot juice, a spinach/wheatgrass/fruit smoothie, banana nut porridge, and to grind some chicken to make Sweet Potato and Kale Chicken Patties courtesy of Multiply Delicious. I miss coffee, and when this is over I am going to make my own coffee creamer now that I have something to make date paste in :)

I have actually been feeling a little "blah" the last couple of days, and occasionally experience "brain fog" (one of the reasons I miss coffee). Another thing I've noticed is how full I get, I can barely get 1400-1500 net calories a day. I guess that is a side effect of eating more vegetables and nutritious food.

This weekend I made Beefy Mexi Cauli Rice (without sour cream) and Chicken Bacon Alfredo for my main food for the week, I might whip up the chicken patties again during the week (they were soooo good!). A Chipotle salad is my fall back plan in case I run out of leftovers.

Anywho, here are some pictures in no particular order:

Carrot Juice

I made this carrot juice in my Vitamix today, it was one of the recipes in the book that it came with. The first time I made it I put way too many carrots and it came out super thick, I watered this batch down (and yes that is a Miller Lite pint glass I am drinking it out of)

Beefy Mexi Cauli Rice (recipe from Healthy Living How To)

I made the Beefy Mexi Cauli Rice last night for dinner and it was surprisingly delicious and filling, as was the chicken bacon alfredo I made today (I cooked and prepared the squash last night):

Chicken Bacon Alfredo (recipe from PaleOMG)

Banana Nut Porridge (recipe from Against All Grain)

This I have to talk about. Mine doesn't look anything like the picture on the Against All Grain page, maybe it's because I used light coconut milk and not the full fat kind. But even with light coconut milk it was really rich and kind of liquidy. It was weird, but it filled me up until lunch.

Mish mash of other pictures:

Chicken and Kale Sweet Potato Patties (recipe from Multiply Delicious)

A random breakfast of leftover chili, eggs, broccoli and avocado

Chicken salad with guac from Chipotle (no dressing)

Another random breakfast

Fruit and wheatgrass smoothie

Good night!!!

21 Day Detox Challenge - Days 3 & 4

I knew once I went back to work it would be hard to keep up with this but I'll try my best. I took yesterday off to spend time with my dad and take him to the airport so he could fly back to the land down under.

Day #3

Yesterday was a much better than Sunday but I still had a dull headache in the morning. I gave in an took an Advil because I am a big baby when it comes to pain. I then proceeded to make a shitty smoothie with no protein powder (we're supposed to only have protein powder after workouts IF absolutely necessary). I mixed berries, wheatgrass, half a banana and some coconut milk I had leftover in a Mason jar that I have no idea if it was full fat or "lite" as I have both in my cupboard. So I either consumed 420 calories and 42 grams of fat  in one sitting or 150 calories and 13.5 grams of fat. I hope it was the latter, but whatever it's over now :) The smoothie itself didn't taste bad but it left me hungry probably due to the fact there was only 7 grams of protein in the drink. An hour later I was downing a can of tuna and a hard boiled egg and I felt much better. Then I went to lunch with my dad and cousin at a Mediterranean restaurant and tried to order as paleo-ish as possible. After barraging the server with question after question I finally settled on a salad with some chicken on top with no dressing (just some lemon). However, the chicken may or may not have been marinated in a yogurt and lemon sauce (don't tell anyone). I avoided the pita bread and hummus and downed like 4 glasses of lemon water.

My second attempt at eating out

For dinner I had leftover pork tenderloin, collard greens in coconut oil, and half a yam. I cooked 3 yams on Sunday night in preparation for this week.

Monday's dinner

Day #4

I woke up too late to make a decent breakfast so I brought half a sweet potato and a hardboiled egg to work. It did the trick but I also had to eat a banana and some almond butter a little while later.  At 12:30 or so, I ate my bean-less chili for lunch as slowly as possible and tried to enjoy all the flavors. I wished I had a piece of cornbread but instead I focused on the sweet nectarine I was going to have for dessert instead. Another thing I've realized about this detox is that it forces you to stop eating food "just for fun". You change your mindset so it's more like you're eating to live, not living to eat. I used to walk in to the kitchen at work and think "Mmmm, a rice krispie treat sounds really good". Now it's more like, what does my body actually need and want? Not to say that I don't still enjoy delicious food but I don't feel as though I'm depriving myself if I avoid the rice krispie treat and eat an apple instead.

After work I went to Crossfit, I haven't been since I started this program. The warmup and the WOD were both killer, although I enjoyed the workout (I love kettlebell swings for some reason), I didn't feel particularly strong. I was actually pretty hungry. Immediately afterwards I had two scoops of whey protein and then went home and had leftover chili with avocado and cilantro. Now it's time for bed. Good night!

Tuesday's dinner! I <3 avocado

6 Healthy Snack Ideas

In between breakfast lunch and dinner, I make sure to always try and include a 100-300 calorie snack twice a day, three times if I'm working out (as a post-workout snack). I wanted to document some of my favorites here along with the nutrition facts (courtesy of MyFitnessPal).

1.   Wholly Guacamole Snack Pack + Can of Albacore Tuna + 3 ak mak Crackers (high protein)

266 calories, 18g carbs, 13g fat, 26g protein, 584mg sodium, 0g sugar

Mix the guacamole and tuna in a container in the morning before you leave for work.

Tip: Try and find a store that sell the 100 calorie snack packs of Wholly Guacamole - my nearby store only sells the big container so when I'm at a different store that does carry the snack packs I usually buy 2-3 (a package contains 3 packs). These are perfect because they are each individually packaged and you can freeze them if needed.

2.   8 Almonds + Slice of Havarti Cheese

136 calories, 2g carbs, 12g fat, 7g protein, 120mg sodium, 0g sugar

3.   4 oz non-fat plain greek yogurt + Open Nature Cranberry Nut Goodness

210 calories, 27g carbs, 4g fat, 15g protein, 108mg sodium, 13g sugar

Tip: You can also add berries to this for a little extra deliciousness

Greek Yogurt & Granola

4.   1 Hard Boiled Egg 

70 calories, 1g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 65mg sodium, 0g sugar

Tip: I like to boil 5 eggs on Sunday so I have one ready to go every day of the week.

5.   2 scoops of Jarrow Whey Protein Caribbean Chocolate mixed with water (high protein)

210 calories, 12g carbs, 2g fat, 34g protein, 80mg sodium, 8g sugar

Tip: Buy a blender bottle and make sure this is always in your gym bag with 2 scoops of protein ready to go. Once your workout is complete you can fill up the bottle at the drinking fountain, shake & go!

6.   3 ak mak crackers + cucumber slices + Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow Cheese

111 calories, 15g carbs, 3g fat, 5g protein, 326mg sodium, 2g sugar

Crackers, Cucumber & Laughing Cow Cheese

What are your favorite healthy snacks?