Cleanse Update #5

Status: Rested and alert

I woke up without an alarm this morning and it could be my imagination, but my mind is feeling clearer. I've also lost another pound, which brings me to 5 lbs in 3 days.  I'm not noticing a difference in how my clothes fit yet, but as I start adding some light exercise, I'm sure I'll start to notice a difference in inches too.

Yesterday was Trevor's toughest day.  He was home sick and on the couch, so he was in the position I was in earlier - too much time to sit around and think about what he couldn't eat.  He supplemented his meals with some snacks of fruit and by the time I started fixing dinner, he was in better spirits.

{Sidenote: For those of you who are worried about Trevor being sick and trying to cleanse at the same time - He hasn't had much of an appetite, so we decided to go on with the cleanse even though he was sick because the food is so nutritious and the plan calls for TONs of water, so my thinking was that those were the types of foods he should be eating to get better anyway.  Hopefully I'm right.}

The highlight of yesterday was certainly the Avocado with Bell Pepper and Tomatoes.  It was delicious and very filling.  I will be making it throughout the cleanse and long after this little shindig is over.  I thought I could make it for lunches, but with fresh avocado, I wonder if it would be brown before we could eat it.  Maybe I'll use it as dinner next week since I go back to work on Monday.

Dinner last night was Roasted Peppers, Cauliflower, and Almonds.  I'm not crazy about cauliflower, but it really wasn't a bad meal.  Trevor really liked it.  It was very simple, but also warm and pretty satisfying.

Today, I am trying a new smoothie recipe and a new lunch recipe, so I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it goes.  I'm feeling really good, so I hope the hardest part is behind us!

Cleanse Update #4

Status: Not as hungry - HOORAY!!

This post will be a little more brief because I'm helping a friend get her house move-in ready.  Best part about it - her new house is less than 10 minutes from ours!!  I'm headed back over there after a really yummy lunch, but I wanted to post a quick update about yesterday - Day 2.

I can't lie.  Day 2 was rough.  It didn't help that Trevor is still not feeling well, so we were pretty much camped out on the couch in a big comforter watching movies for most of the day.  That much down time gave me way too much time to sit and think about all the things I couldn't eat.  I about threw in the towel {not really, because I still have $100 worth of produce in my kitchen and I'm too cheap not to eat it}.  I'm also pretty thankful for this blog because even though I'm sure only 3 people read it, {Hi, Jenni!} it gave me some accountability knowing that people would be checking in on our progress.

Yesterday was rough not only because of our down time, but also because the food was not our favorite.  I thought it would be really great, and it was okay, but definitely not great.  We had another antioxidant smoothie for breakfast, Kale Slaw with Red Cabbage and Carrots for lunch, and Roasted Garlic and Beet Soup for dinner.  I know I said I was excited about it, but the soup was terribly bland.  I doctored it up a little bit with some extra herbs and white pepper, but overall, it just wasn't very good. The Kale Slaw was actually pretty good, so I can't really complain.  I just thought it would be a little more flavorful as well.  We also cheated a little yesterday - an orange with breakfast, a celery stick with literally 1 teaspoon of peanut butter {we were really hungry, but didn't want to cheat too much}, and then we split an apple with another teaspoon of peanut butter while the beet was roasting for dinner.  This sort of cheating is justifiable for 3 reasons:

1. We stuck with food that was already in the plan (all fruits, veggies, nuts, and plant oils - and our peanut butter is just roasted peanuts and salt)
2. We haven't been fixing the snacks that are included in the plan
3. We were so HUNGRY all day yesterday

Even though we cheated a little, I think I'm starting to feel a difference.  Most of the day we were really tired, but this morning I weighed in at 144 (- 4lbs) and Trevor weighed in at 247 (- 9lbs).  I know this is probably mostly water weight for me and Trevor's is due to sickness, but it's still encouraging.  I won't spoil my Day 3 post too much, but I am feeling much better today - definitely more optimistic about continuing the plan. :)

Well, I need to head back over to LW's house to help sand wall paper glue off the walls.  I'm telling you, having our good friends within a 10 minute drive makes any amount of work worth it.

I'll be back soon to tell you all about Day 3 and about the most delicious meal we just ate {that will be a part of our lunch rotation long after the cleanse is over}.

Until then, is anyone else trying to eat differently these days?

Cleanse Update #3

Status:  Still Hungry  :)

Day 1 is in the books.  Good news:  I survived the broccoli!  I actually almost liked it.  Many thanks to a sweet friend who suggested roasted over steaming.  I don't know how the nutritional value stacks up between roasted and steamed, but I'm assuming that roasted broccoli is better than no broccoli at all.

The evening meal as a whole was kind of - meh - even according to my broccoli-loving better half.  The real downer was the tahini sauce that was supposed to be drizzled over the broccoli and squash.  Please believe me when I tell you that it was so bad.  I just kept tweaking and adding a bit more of this and a dash of that {I stuck with the recipe ingredients} and it just kept getting worse.  I served it on the side and once everything came together it was tolerable.  I think we have to eat it one more time, so I saved just enough, but it's pretty safe to say that it won't be making its way into our regular rotation.  In fact, it's pretty safe to say that I will never make that particular sauce again.

Even though it has only been about 36 hours and even though Trevor hasn't been feeling well since Sunday, I think we will begin to feel a difference soon {besides the constant hunger pangs, that is}.  I think I'm already realizing somethings about my eating habits that have contributed to my current predicament {being over my optimal weight, low on energy, etc.}  Here they are in no particular order:

#1:  I rarely allow myself to feel real hunger and if I do, I almost always eat way to fast and eat way more than I need to in order to satisfy my appetite.

#2:  We eat in front of the TV too much.  Something that I hope will last after these 3 weeks is that we will make an effort to eat more at the table.  When it's just the two of us, it is all too easy to eat in front of the TV.  We need to switch off the tube (or phones or computers or...) and take time to think about the food we are eating.

#3:  I do not like to quit eating until I feel full.  We are trying to be careful to match the serving sizes that are part of the plan and I am usually still hungry when the serving is gone.  I am learning though, that after about 20 minutes, I do feel satisfied.  I hope to take that lesson with me after the cleanse.  Maybe mastering #2 {above, not anything having to do with the restroom} will help with that.

Moving forward - today's food seems much more appealing than yesterday.  We had a berry and pomegranate smoothie for breakfast, Kale Slaw with Cabbage and Carrots for lunch, and I'm making a Roasted Garlic and Beet Soup for dinner.  For those of you who are scared of beets, I encourage you to try them.  Especially roasted, they are wonderful.  We are very excited to try this soup.  It looks fantastic.

We have been pretty tired {maybe due in part to sickness, maybe due to cleanse} so if we make it past 8:00 tonight, I might make Cinnamon Poached Apples with Toasted Walnuts for an after dinner snack. Thinking about the evening fare helps me keep motivated to continue.

This is getting lengthy and I might take advantage of my day off to take a nap.  I'll be back tomorrow with an update on Day 2.

Cleanse Update #2

Status:  Hungry :)

Breakfast: Hot water with lemon
Antioxident smoothie (frozen mixed berries with no sugar added and unsweetened pomegranate juice)

The smoothie was very tasty, but not very filling.  It did feel good to know that no added sugar or chemicals were in the mix....just fruit.

I'm getting ready to make lunch.  We will be having Spiced Butternut Squash and Apple Soup.  It's a cold, dreary day, and I'm quite looking forward to it.  After that, I'm going to make an afternoon snack of Dried Fruit and Nut Bites.  I hope they are as tasty as they sound because dinner is Steamed Broccoli and Squash with Tahini Dressing and I do not like broccoli.  I told Trevor though if he would give up coffee, I would eat the broccoli...

Still excited about this little endeavor.  Remind me of that when I have to eat broccoli tonight...

Cleanse Update #1 - Beginning Stats

Good afternoon.  Jamie here.

We started the day with a cup of hot water with lemon.  Supposedly, its purpose is to wake up your liver.  Good morning, liver!  (insert sarcastic eye roll here)  But really, it wasn't too bad.  With this cleanse, there is no caffeine at anytime during the three weeks.  Apparently it is because caffeinated drinks are very acidic and hard on your digestive system.  We don't usually drink pop, so that's not a big deal.  Trevor will miss his coffee and I will miss my unsweet iced tea.  We're pretty much addicted to our beverages of choice.  Now that I have written that on paper, maybe it is a good thing we are nixing it for the next few weeks.  Admitting I have a problem is the first step toward recovery. :)

Let me give you our beginning stats.  This morning, we had our official weigh in.  (This is the part I'm least anxious to share - accountability, accountability, accountability - here goes).

Trevor: 255 lbs
Jamie: 148 lbs

This is embarrassing.  It is the heaviest either of us has ever been.  We were close once.  For our wedding.  Awesome.  If you don't believe me, we have 1500 pictures commemorating the occasion.  For that one, we blame a move to the South where vegetables aren't served unless they're fried.  :)

Now I know some might look at those numbers and wonder what the big deal is.  I have a friend who hovers around 150 and is a size 4.  She is extremely fit and looks fantastic.  I have a very small frame though, I should be around 115 - 120 lbs....so I've got a ways to go.  Trevor's goal is 210, where he was just after he stopped playing college ball.

We officially have our work cut out for us.  We know this cleanse is certainly not going to get us to our goals, but it will serve to kick start our journey and for that I am grateful.  Here are our goals for the end of our 3 week cleanse:

Trevor: 220 lbs (the man loses weight like a champ)
Jamie: 135 lbs (mine comes off a little slower)

There you have it.  The hard part is over.  The beans have officially been spilled.  Now comes the easy part....  Yikes!  This might be a long three weeks.  I think I can, I think I can....

So Long 2012

As we say goodbye to 2012, Trevor and I hope to also say goodbye to some excess pounds that have slowly but surely taken up residence on our bodies.  With my teaching/Vanderbilt class schedule and with Trevor's work/church schedule, we have severely neglected to eat healthy or work out in 2012...I mean hardly at all.  It is sad.  We also come home late and exhausted and usually collapse on the couch with some kind of comfort food - not a recipe for good health.

For those of you who don't know us personally (or all that well for that matter), let me take a second to say that I played sports all through high school and have been reasonably fit and active since and Trevor played college basketball and has also been reasonably fit and active since.  We used to pay a lot of attention to our eating also, so it's not that being healthy is something we don't know how to do.  Over the past year, it's just something that we haven't given proper attention to because we're always busy and running to the next thing.

While checking Pinterest one night (sitting on my couch when I could have been up moving), I came across Whole Living's 21 Day Cleanse.  I liked the look of it because the emphasis is not on crazy food combinations or on drinking some sort of crazy potion 6 times a day.  The premise is that everything is stripped down and the first week is only fruits, vegetables and nuts.  Then things are slowly added back in each week.  I liked the idea of eating real, whole food and concentrating on exactly what we are putting in our bodies.  It also is gluten-free, something we have been wanting to test to make sure neither of us is intolerant.  I asked Trevor if he would ever want to try something like that and he agreed that we should look into it.  We knew we couldn't start while I was still in school (quite a bit of prep involved), so we decided we would wait until we got back from our Christmas travel and use the week before I went back to school as a springboard to kick start our renewed emphasis on our health.

Saturday we went to the store to pick up a few things and just decided to do all of our cleanse shopping while we were there.  $149 later, we loaded up the car with all the ingredients for week 1.  $149, ya'll!  That is about half of our usual monthly budget, but I kept having to remind myself that it was worth it to splurge and spend more this month on healthy food.  We don't buy convenience food usually, and we cook mostly from scratch which is how we usually keep things under budget.  So tip #1 for starting this cleanse: prepare your wallet.  I would say of that $149, about $120 was all produce.  We have so much produce for this week that there is not room for it all in our fridge.  Crazy.

A big part of the cleanse is focusing on how food makes you feel.  We know that it is a bit more restrictive than what we are used to and we know that not all our feelings will be positive, but we are excited to try.  We will use this blog as a place to record our feelings about the cleanse as we go.

We will also use this blog as a source of accountability.  As hard as it is to admit that we haven't been very disciplined and have let our health slip from our priority list, we will be very open and honest about our successes and struggles as we go.  Once it's out there in the blogosphere, we have to continue on, even if it is not fun.

So, without anything further, here goes nothing!  (Did I mention that I'm hungry already?)   :)
Cheers!

And We're Back...

I know this little blog has been sorely neglected as I (Jamie) pursued my Masters in Teaching over the course of the past 18 months.  Good news: I am done!  Officially. :)  I'm teaching at an elementary school in Nashville and I couldn't be more excited.  Also, big news since our last post here, Trevor and I are adopting!  For all the details on that little endeavor, check out our adoption blog.

Now that we're all caught up, I can't promise that this blog will get as much attention from us as it used to, but check back from time to time if you're interested in what we're up to next.

The main reason for this post is because we have had a fantastic food week at our house and can't wait to share what we've been eating.  So let's get to it, shall we?

Tuesday night, we ate Mediterranean Portobello Burgers.  They were, in one word, incredible.  Healthy and delicious too (okay, that was three words but I could seriously go on all day).  This is one recipe that I hope will be in heavy rotation at our house.  I think we'll make them again this week.

Thursday night, we made pizza with pesto, tomatoes, and feta.  Again, fantastic.  Our grill is out of propane and it's not exactly prime grilling season, so we just made it in the oven.  I made the whole wheat dough but we used store-bought pesto.  We served it with spring greens and a homemade red wine vinaigrette (that we made up on the fly).  It was really good.

This morning, I spent some more time in the kitchen. I made my grandma's banana bread and some fresh naan.  Naan is an Indian flatbread.  I improvised a little and just threw everything into the bread machine  dough cycle while my banana bread was baking.  I wasn't sure how it would come out but I was pleasantly surprised.  It came out of the oven soft on the inside and a little crispy on the outside.  It paired wonderfully with the spinach feta hummus I made earlier in the week.

I wish you could have joined us as Trevor and I had a little dance party in the kitchen eating the warm naan fresh from the oven with our hummus, drinking iced tea and listening to Rend Collective Experiment on Spotify.  It was a seriously wonderful 5 minutes :)

Alright, so this was a pretty random first post back.  We are glad to be settling into our new routine, so perhaps you'll be hearing more from us soon.  Until then, what have you been eating at your house?  Any recipes you're dying to share?