The Hobbit Hole

[limejuicy]

From personal experience, take a look at your veggie intake versus your meat intake. I think ISWF says protein + veggie + veggie? I was consuming very few vegetables for one to two of my meals. Upping those and backing off the protein a bit was positive for digestion. It's very easy to ignore veggies at breakfast. Unfortunately, cutting my coconut milk consumption waaaay down was also positive for digestion. Boo.

[hobbitgirl]

Thank you both for the suggestions. I do think my meals can get too light on veggies. So today I have added more and tried to fix the ratio.

Last night was a super treat! We had to run out and things were getting late and there was no way I was going to be able to cook dinner when I got home (I had taken out a roast which would take about an hour and a half to cook). So, hubby took me out to a Brazilian Steakhouse! Oh my! Men passing by you with all sorts of meats on a stick. I had to run to the salad bar to get some steamed broccoli and green beans because any starches provided at the table were white.

So today is day 11. That means I am 1/3 through the program. YEAH! I also spoke with a personal trainer this morning and I'll be adding that to my workouts starting next Thursday.

Today's food shapes up like this:

Breakfast - emergency protein. This time I really looked at it and tried to make sure that my ground beef componant was only the size of my palm, and then took lots of broccoli and carrots.

Lunch - more emergency protein (didn't have time to cook at all last night, and no time to make olive oil mayo either so egg salad was out too...grrrr), with extra broccoli and carrots. Also 10 cherries, and 10 macadamia nuts.

Dinner - Sirloin tip roast, root veggies, cauliflower pilaf

45 minutes on the treadmill just because I needed to hop off and speak to the trainer this morning.

[hobbitgirl]

WOOT! Pooped 2 days in a row. LOL!

Downside is I got munchies and ate my macadamia nuts and cherries already.

Today is a food day in our department so there is a ton of junk around. I did bring in a fruit bowl, so I may have some of that after lunch, but I usually try to offset my fruit with some nuts. None around that I can have though (anything in the vending machines has safflower oil).

[hobbitgirl]

Been gone a few days, and staying on track has been difficult because of a few meals out that had VERY few options. One place we went I had the saute'd frog's legs, making sure to ask them for no breading, and it was served with clarified butter and a lemon wedge. Lemon was sufficient seasoning, but my only veg option was honey glazed carrots. I mean, not even just steamed carrots or broccoli. I could have rice or a white potato, or honey glazed carrots. The hardest part honestly has been giving up my chocolate martinis!

Oh, and my complaints about constipation....NO LONGER AN ISSUE! Holy CATS! If you are having 'issues' wait until about day 14. Suddenly my system must have regulated, and now it's like clockwork.

[hobbitgirl]

Today is day...OMG...16. I'm past the half way point! LOL.

Breakfast - Emergency protein and a bunch of broccoli

Lunch - 1.5 slices of leftover pork roast, and a LOT of cauliflower pilaf (I over did it on the cinnamon and it was actually gritty. YARG).

Dinner - I have NO clue. LOL. We have a chiropractor appointment tonight, and a bunch of leftovers in the fridge (2 kinds of pork and some left over roast beef) that I really need to turn into something. Lots of broccoli, salad fixins, green beans in the house. Hmmm....

[hobbitgirl]

So dinner last night was almost the end of me. I SO WANTED to just go out, have a couple of chocolate martinis and a nice chicken marsala. But, somehow we ended up back home. So much easier to stay on track that way.

Dinner last night was hamburgers, yellow onions and mushrooms saute'd in ghee, and a green salad. Grapes and pistachios too.

Day 17 and up and about. And low and behold the tide came in. ARRGH. As I drove to work it felt like someone was punching me in the gut. I had to run upstairs and pilfer an 800 mg ibuprofen from a neighbor's cube. But, that certainly made the workout bareable. As a matter of fact, I FEEL GREAT.

Meals today look like this:

Breakfast - Emergency Protein with broccoli and baby carrots; 2 iced vanilla coffee coconut milk lattes. (I gave up caffiene for a few days and as I had no headaches or ill effects I decided that my simple morning indulgence is OK).

Lunch - 1.5 slices of leftover pork roast, baby carrots, green salad, a plum or some grapes

Dinner - Steaks, green salad, the rest of the onions and mushrooms, green beens

I'm thinking of making a 'treat' off of OMGPaleo's website. She had 2 recipies recently (pumpkin cake in a cup, and a carrot cake pudding). She's doing a sugar detox so the recipes are W30 compliant (so long as you use an alcohol free vanilla extract). I'm thinking of combining the 2 recipies for a carrot cake in a cup. I'll let you know how they turn out.

[hobbitgirl]

Well, last night didn't go as intended. I ended up making chicken breasts, dredged in coconut flour with some herbs, fried up in coconut oil. Meh. Ok, note to self...coconut flour isn't that faboo on chicken (or I have to learn something else to do with it). I think i'll stick to a nice olive oil and herb marinade going forward, or maybe figure out something with the olive oil mayo.

I also tried to whip up some sort of carot cake in a cup thing based on some recent posting on Paleomg. I added raisins to mine, since I like rasins in carrot cake. It turned out OK, but I could definitely see that adding some whipped up coconut butter with vanilla and cinnamon on top might make it even a little better than it was.

Today shapes up like this

Worked out 55 minutes on the treadmill for a total of 3.15 miles. Tomorrow I start with the personal trainer.

Breakfast - emergency protein, 2 iced coconut milk coffee lattes

lunch - thick slice of leftover pork roast, a generous helping of the carrot raisin cake plop (it's mostly veggies anyway, right?); green salad, cherries

Dinner - I'm just a mess this week and a girl without a plan. I think my monthly is draining directly from my brain this time around. Maybe I'll make those steaks tonight.

[Meridith Wolnick]

I tried the same carrot cake recipe and didn't love it. Maybe that's it - that it really needs some whipped coconut cream? I definitely only liked it warm. If someone else has tried this, chime in and tell me what to do differently!

[hobbitgirl]

Well I had made so much of that carrot cake stuff that I just put the bowl in the fridge. My ingredients were about 5 carrots, boiled and purreed. To that I added pumpkin pie spice, an egg, a good tablespoon of coconut flour, alcohol free vanilla extract, and then a dash of baking soda and baking powder (I couldn't remember which to use, so I used both...DUH), oh, and raisins...I like raisins and to be honest, the rasins REALLY helped. I warmed up a good sized plop of this with my pork for lunch and it was actually very tasty.

[hobbitgirl]

Day 18...and today I started with my personal trainer. I did a half hour of cardio on the dreadmill (I shouldn't call it that, I actually enjoy the treadmill because there's a built in TV and I watch the news while I walk), and then had my first session with my trainer. He said I surprised him on 2 levels...I'm WAY more flexible than anyone he's ever worked with (Thanks mom for all the years of ballet!) and I'm in better shape than he thought. Apparently he's not starting me off as a 'beginner'. Lucky me. LOL. And since the tide is in, at that hour of the morning I'm riding my bitch-cycle, so I had to warn him in advance to expect extra snarkiness. Ahh....how I have missed resistance training. I've missed mornings that include grunting and spitting. GRRRRRRRRRRRR..... LOL.

Meals for the day shape up like this:

Breakfast - emergency protien, and green beans cooked in ghee with sea salt and garlic (NOM!!) Iced coffee and coconut milk lattes

Lunch - The last of the pork roast and the last of the carrot raisin pudding cake thing. (I warmed up some of it last night and hubby asked to try it. He was surprised at how much he liked it. Really, raisins make the difference).

Dinner - Once again I'm a girl without a plan. Hmmm... Any suggestions on what to do with ground turkey?

[Renee Lee]

Hash! what veggies do you have in the fridge? My mom and I have recently been doing a chicken/asparagus/sweet potato/shallot hash with rosemary and lemon peel that has been _awesome_

[hobbitgirl]

Hmmm...I can't add. Today is Day 20...which meant yesterday was day 19, not 18...DUH.

Anyhow...dinner last night turned into my attempt at making Zoodles (Zucchini noodles). I learned that the julianne attachment on the kitchen mandolin makes them VERY thin. So, some got through the mandolin, other's I did by hand. Honestly, having eaten those Zero Noodles in a bag...Zoodles are WAY better. Hubby said he would prefer these any time over the zero noodles (which have an odd smell, MUST be rinsed to try and clear up the smell, and have a very gummy texture). I cooked up some of the sausages I got at costco that are ok on W30 in some ghee, then took them out and sauted up the zoodles with some canned tomatoes, added some italian spice. Then I sliced up the sausages and returned them to the pan. Not bad.

So today is day 20. I'm 2/3 of the way through and can't believe the journey. I haven't stepped on the scale and this would be the last week I would want to do that anyhow. The tide is in and the scale is my enemy! Also, the internal plumbing seems to have stopped running again. Not sure what's up with that. I have some digetstive enzymes that I will start taking on Monday if things haven't righted themselves by then.

Today is shaping up like this:

55 minutes on the dreadmill...total of 3.18 miles! WOOT

Breakfast - Finished off the last of the emergency protein, tossed in some frozen baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli (YUM!..I used to have broccoli and cauliflower, but now I look forward to them being on my plate!).

Lunch - Leftover pot roast with more frozen baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli

snax - 2 plums

Dinner - I'm such a slacker this week. No plan at all. Still have that ground turkey meet in the freezer, and some organic chicken thighs and chicken legs. Thoughts? Suggestions? Honestly, I'm afraid to let my husband talk me into going out for dinner because I REALLY want a martini!

[hobbitgirl]

WOW...today is day 23. I got through another weekend.

Because I had plans on Sunday, I ended up doing some of my cooking for the week ahead on Saturday. I chopped up a yellow onion, yellow pepper and a sweet potato and fried them up in coconut oil. Then I chopped up all of the leftover pot roast and a small leftover steak and tossed that in. I scrambled up I don't remember how many eggs in a bowl (maybe 10 but they were medium eggs). I poured my meat and veggie mixture into an olive oiled pyrex pan and then poured the eggs over that and mixed the whole thing a little bit. I coooked that in a 350 degree oven for...I don't know...45-50 minutes until the eggs were set. This makes a lovely quick breakfast because they are cut up into serving squares. Just grab one or two and you are good to go! I dub this - Garbage Breakfast Casserole.

I finally cut into the whole watermelon that has been sitting on my counter for over a week. I love watermelon, but it's a mess to cut up. I need to find some sort of cutting board I can put over my sink. Anyhow...here it is Monday and most of that melon is gone.

Today shapes up like this:

55 minutes on the dreadmill at 3.6 mph for most of it. I think I ended up at 3.28 miles done, and my monitor said 328 calories burned. I've also started wearing my neoprene shorts under my workout clothes.

Breakfast: 1 square of garbage breakfast casserole, frozen veggies with ghee, sea salt and garlic (broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots)

Lunch: canned tuna fish maded with home made olive oil may, sea salt and pepper. Salad with olive oil, red wine vinegar and italian herbs. Grapes, Pistachios

Dinner: I took out a pork roast...now to figure out what to do with it.

Oh, we picked up a 7.1 Cu. Ft chest freezer over the weekend. This will be in addition to the 5.3 cu. ft. freezer already in the basement. The larger one will become a dedicated meat freezer. I've got 1/4 beef and 1/8 pork all grass fed arriving on Sept 7th. With the drought here, hubby was wanting to get in a good meat order before prices went up, so it was easy to convince him to let me order a bunch of grass fed stuff. With what we already have for just the two of us, we will easily make it through to the next season. My big hope is that come the fall he's able to bag a turkey or two, and maybe a dear. That along with a few rabbit and squirrel (YES, we eat squirrel, and don't judge if you haven't tried it..they are pretty tasty!) could get us through a year.

[jhmomi]

Sounds like you are doing great. Your garbage breakfast casserole sounds like my frittatas. Still have a bunch of HB eggs, but I'm thinking I'll be ready to make a frittata in a couple of days. So easy to take as a portable snack. I don't even care if they are still cold.

Congrats on the new freezer. When I started eating Paleo at the beginning of the year I felt very blessed to have two fridges in the house (second one is in our laundry room, less than ten feet from the primary one) plus a huge upright freezer (biggest one we could buy at the time). I never have to worry if my food will fit in the fridge/freezer when I get home from the store. Really need to check out splitting a side of beef with someone. Anyone in Atlanta interested in getting one this fall?

[hobbitgirl]

It's so funny to be on day 22 and realize that I really haven't eaten many eggs. I usually only have eggs on the weekend (unless I make eggsalad in a pinch). We had so much leftover pot roast and that steak that I had to use it up somehow. Hubby seems to enjoy the breakfast casserole as he's eaten it on his own (getting into my stash). So, I will probably have to make a batch of ground meat based emergency protein one night this week, which is fine by me. I've gotten accustomed to meat in the morning and I sort of miss it. LOL.

[hobbitgirl]

Dinner on Day 22 turned into a lovely little pork roast. I rubbed the roast all over with ghee, then sprinkled with cinnamon and salt. I put cut up apples and sweet potato in the pan and then the roast on top. Sprinkled the apples and potatoes with salt and cinnamon too, and then I sprinkled some shredded coconut on it all. add a little water, Tented with foil and cooked for an hour and a half at 400 deg. NUM. Nice and juicy and really very simple. Had that with a side salad and an iced vanilla roobios coconut milk latte. Some grapes and pistachios for desert.

Today is Day 23 and what a day it is.

60 minutes on the dreadmill, 3.5 miles and 365 cal burned (according to my personal monitor).

Breakfast - garbage casserole, brocc, cauli, carrots in ghee with garlic and sea salt

Iced vanilla coffe with coconut milk.

Lunch, leftover pork roast, side salad, veggies, grapes, pistachios.

Dinner - Not sure, I took out something that is either a small steak or a small roast. So...something with dead cow. LOL.

[hobbitgirl]

Well, yesterday sucked turtle snot. Work was a mess, got home intending to cook only to get reminded that we needed to be at a meeting at 6:30...so hubby took me to applebees. I ordered a steak, asked them to hold the parmesean and replace the potatoes with steamed broccoli. It seemed to take a while to arrive and when it did it was over cooked (Medium Rare and Medium Well are NOT the same thing). So, back it went and by the time my replacement came I just had little appetite. So I ate maybe half.

The good news though is that I had taken out 2 hamburgers with the intent of turning them into emergency protien for breakfasts. So, at about 8:35pm I threw the burger meat into a pan, squished it up, and then added all the veggies from my dinner. Added a can of chopped tomatoes and chillis, cut up what was left of my steak, and then some sea salt, garlic and italian herbs. MMMMMM...

Today shapes up like this

60 minutes on the dreadmill at 3.6 mph. 3.62 miles completed! 362 calories burned (yup, I double checked that...kinda funny how that worked out).

Breakfast : Emergency Protien, brocc. cauli carrot mix with sea salt and garlic (no ghee this time).

2 Iced vanilla coconut milk lattes (MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM)

Lunch: a slice of leftover pork roast, sweet potatoes and apples, pistachios and grapes

Dinner: Well, I still need to cook that steak that I took out and never cooked yesterday. I guess I'll grill that up tonight.

[hobbitgirl]

Cooked up that steak for dinner last night. I rubbed it with some sea salt, garlic, and a steak rub that's W30 compliant that I found at ALDI of all places. LOL. Did a nice grill on my George Forman and cooked it to rare. Very yummy. Had that with some steamed baby carrots and watermelon. NOM NOM.

Holy CATS it's Day 26! Honestly, I've noticed how my tastes have changed. I don't want a donut or cereal for breakfast. I want my ground meat! Love love LOVE! Donuts and treats at work are not that hard to pass up if I have some fruit and nuts laying around. And yes, there are times that I actually crave broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots steamed with some ghee, garlic and sea salt. If they sold a bucked of that at the movies I would be VERY happy!

So, today shapes up like this:

42 minutes on the Dreadmill at 3.6mph. Then 30 minutes with my personal trainer. OH MAN did he kick my butt today. I warned him that I like to workout like a guy. He handed me a jump rope to get my heart rate up. I looked at him and said..."Umm..you found the one girl who can't jump rope" Nevermind that they are ALL too long for me (I'm 4'10.5" tall), but I simply cant do it. I can jump a few times and then the rope will hit my back foot and I'll tangle. Then it's just flashbacks to grammar school when kids would jump rope and I would try and they would make fun of me because I sucked at it. So, I tried again...got tangled, tossed the rope to the otherside of the gym and said "Ok..pick something else...I don't jump rope". LOL. He was stunned that I had no issues with dumbell chest presses, or even body weight pull ups on the TRX thingy, or tricep dips. DUH...I told him I liked to workout like a guy. Anyhow, I guess I impressed him...so he punished me for it. LOL. 405 calories burned when all was said and done, according to my heart rate monitor.

Breakfast: Emergency Protein, leftover steamed baby carrots

2 Iced Vanilla Coconut Milk Lattes

Lunch: Last bit of the leftover Pork Roast, sweet potatoes and apples

Pistachios. I'll run to the cafeteria to pick up some fruit.

Dinner: No idea. Didn't take anything out. Maybe something with chicken thighs.

[Derval]

Well done, nothing like surprising people with your strength

[hobbitgirl]

Last night worked out well. Hubby wanted chicken. So, down to the chest freezer to pull out some Costco Organic Chicken Thighs, defrost them in the microwave. I pulled off the skin, then rubbed them all over with ghee, sprinkled with sea salt, garlic, and McCormick Rotisserie seasoning (I double checked the ingredients and it passed my W30 test). Then into my George Forman Grill.

While all of that was going on I also washed my lunch containers and prepped today's work day meals, made a pot of coffee for today, steamed up the last of the frozen broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrot mix. A very productive night.

Today is day 27 and I still can't believe it. I honestly wish I could get my husband on board with this, and what would stop him would be the whole no cheats thing. He's taken me out to dinner a few times and will say things like "Oh, one Martini won't ruin everything" but I refuse and just ask for water with lemmon. Though, I'm looking forward to a martini next week and I'm curious as to what it will even taste like to me. LOL.

Today shapes up like this:

60 minutes on the dreadmill, 355 calories, 3.52 miles. (3.6 mph is getting too easy so next week I'll have to kick it up again).

Breakfast: Emergency Protein, steamed baby carrots with sea salt and garlic

2 iced vanilla coconut milk lattes (made the coffee too strong and not enough coconut milk in them this morning).

Lunch: Leftover steak with broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots

pistachios and pineapple

Dinner: Ugh...no idea again...I forgot to take something out. Though I must say that I'm cooking WAY better since I've been doing this. I'm experimenting more with spices, rubs and things. I've become more aware of the timing of cooking red meat so it doesn't get over done.