Lujo's Whole Life

[lujo238]

Goodness another lost weekend.  The 4th of July was so beautiful here.  Sunny but with a nice breeze and no drama.  I did eat and drink some off plan foods but I knew that going in.  Grandma left back to Florida on Saturday so yesterday was a day of rest after my mini staycation.  I doubt I could remember my menu's from the last few days with any accuracy so I am starting from today.

 

B - greens, beets, and eggs

L - leftover cube steak and gravy with mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted veggies (I stuck a serving in the freezer last week to have for lunch one day this week)

D - leftover chicken thigh, sautéed squash and onion, and Turkish chopped salad

 

I have definitely slipped back into some bad habits over the holiday. What starts as one piece of cake ends with a binge of dried mango.  Talk about a stomach ache.  The sugar monster is alive and well in me.  I will spend the next week getting it back under control before we leave for our actual vacation in 10 days.  I even ate potato chips yesterday. Ugh! They didn't taste good but I was in full binge mode.  Today is a new day and this is a new week.  I think we will do a mini Whole 7 pre-vaca to get our heads on straight. 

[lujo238]

Yesterday was rough.  I was hungry and distracted all day.  Did okay until after dinner.  The bad news is I have no will power with certain foods in the house.  The good news is it is now gone.

[lujo238]

Yesterday's menu

B- 2 eggs, 2 bacon, squash and onions

L - leftover steak cut into strips and sautéed with squash and onions, leftover Turkish chopped salad

D - tomato sauce with sausage and ground beef, cucumber and onion salad

S - about an ounce of gouda, some green olives, and some dark chocolate

 

I did better yesterday. I headed off the evening hunger I get with a planned snack.  I need to get some grass-fed beef sticks for making my own primal packs.  I like the mix of savory and sweet. I know I should not be snacking at all but the reality is I get hungry and if I don't eat something good for me I end up eating something bad for me.  So I have decided to (for now) add that fourth smaller meal to my menu plan. 

 

today's menu

B- 2 eggs, swiss chard and onion, and some blueberries

L - Greek salad with grilled chicken

D - pork chops with green beans and a beet

S - dark chocolate

[lujo238]

Yesterday was better.  I did get snacky a little late but instead of getting more chocolate or something else I just went to bed.  Maybe that should be my new game plan.  Hungry after 9 pm? Go straight to bed.

 

Today's menu

B - 2 eggs, with swiss chard and onion

L - leftover pork chops and green beans and some cantaloupe

D - grilled burgers, brussel sprouts zucchini and radishes

S - almonds, dried pineapple and dark chocolate

[lujo238]

I didn't follow my game plan last night and ate too many nuts before bed.  Lately I feel like my evenings are too short.  I instituted a mandatory family dinner which is nice.  I have had my kids at the table with me for a few days now and you know what, it really works.  Everyone has just been nicer to one another.  Having conversation that doesn't just revolve around the immediate needs has been nice.  It's easier to be patient with one another when you know how their doing.  If someone had a bad day at work or had a fight with their friend.  I have also been making my kids list something they are grateful for every day.  We have had a lot of sadness since we lost two pets this year.  I read something somewhere that people who are grateful are the happiest people.  So everyday we tell something we were grateful for.  It can be big or small.  We have all sorts of things to be grateful for like air conditioning on a hot day, poison ivy scrub after a mishap in the woods, being appreciated at work, and dogs, just to name a few. As a family we are trying to focus on the positive.

[lujo238]

Yesterday's menu

B - 2 eggs, 2 bacon, leftover brussel sprouts, zuchinni and radishes

L - Trader Joe's grass fed beef burger, leftover Brussel sprouts, zuchinni and squash

S - greek yogurt

D - Mexican guacamole with corn chips, 2 authentic steak tacos with cilantro and onion and salsa, 1 Margarita

 

No bedtime snack yesterday but I did have a mid-afternoon yogurt.  The burger from Trader Joe's was not so good plus I kept wondering about how far that meat had traveled.  I really like the flavor of my local meat plus I can see exactly where those cows come from as we drive by the pasture to get to the farm.

 

The family is starting to get super excited about our upcoming vacation.  Lots of packing to do this weekend. We are leaving on Thursday but I will try to pack this weekend so I don't have to rush when I get home from work Wednesday night.  My oldest isn't going with us.  I am bummed that he is missing out but it's nice to have someone home to feed pets and such.  Now that he's got a job he doesn't like to miss work because he is getting used to the income.

[lujo238]

Weekend menu

Saturday

B- 2 eggs, hash with potatoes, onions and sausage

L-spinach salad with grilled chicken, egg, pecans and feta with a bacon honey mustard dressing

D-guacamole and chips, a burger with pepper cheese, side salad, coleslaw, corn and blueberry salad - 3 shock top summer shandy beers

S-almonds, dried pineapple, and a beef stick

 

Sunday

B-2 eggs, hash with potatoes, onion and sausage

L- egg salad with romaine lettuce and a small cucumber, and some olives

D- chili with ground beef and turkey, red beans, tomatoes, onions and a Dos Equis

S- almonds, dried pineapple, and a beef stick

[lujo238]

I drank a bit more than usual this weekend.  I had my usual Friday night margarita but then followed it up with several beers over the weekend.  I avoided most other glutens but could definitely feel the effect of the wheat beer on my head this morning.  Back to my week day grind for 3 more days then it is vacation time.  Woo Hoo! I have not had a real vacation in ages and I can't wait.  Avoiding alcohol should be easier this week as we are visiting family that don't really drink at least not in the homes where we will be staying.  Who knows what kind of food we will run into though.  We are planning to bring as our guest gift a big bag of fresh produce and we are planning to cook dinner for everyone Saturday night so that should be good at least.  Not that the rest of the food won't be good it just may not be healthy.

[lujo238]

Monday's menu

B- 3 eggs, kale sautéed in garlic and olive oil

L - left over chili and some Fritos

D - meatloaf, Brussell sprouts, and an ear of corn

S- dark chocolate

[lujo238]

I am mostly packed for my vacation later this week.  I did discover yesterday that it is going to be a bit cooler than I thought so I pulled a sweater out of the closet to bring.  I also discovered it is supposed to rain every day we are there.  The lowest chance of rain is 30%.  My kids are gonna go bananas if they are shut up inside the whole week.  Heck I'm gonna go bananas cause my kids will drive me crazy.  Oh well, nothing I can do about the weather. 

 

Today's meni

B- 2 eggs, 2 bacon, yellow squash

L - leftover meatloaf and brussel sprouts

D - chicken breast and leftover corn on the cob and green beans

[lujo238]

Vacation is over.  We had a great time but I am so tired I could sleep for days.  Unfortunately it is back to work for me today.  I thought I did pretty good food wise the first half of my vacation but on Sunday at the actual reunion I pretty much ate whatever. Then the rest of the week went downhill.  I weighed myself this morning and I am up 8 pounds.  It hardly seems possible but there it is.  I will have to work hard to stay clean for the next couple weeks to see if I can get back down to where I was last week.

[mcjule]

Lujo, I doubt that's "real" weight gain so hopefully it will come off quickly when you start eating clean again.  Congrats for doing well for part of the vacation -- it's all a learning process for us newbies.  We have to celebrate the small victories.

[lujo238]

Yeah eating in someone else's kitchen for a week was tough.  I did get up and make breakfast for everyone all week so that at least was a healthy controlled meal.  They did only have SAD eggs though.  Wow they really taste nothing like pastured eggs.  I am definitely spoiled by the higher quality foods I have been eating.  I did find some local sausage to supplement though I am pretty sure it was not pastured pork just local. They had lots of local produce in the market which makes sense since it is smack in the middle of farm country.  The family we stayed with is an elderly aunt who has 100 acres in SW PA.  She no longer farms the land herself as her kids are all grown and have other jobs.  She rents the land to another farmer who grows corn and soy beans.  Go figure.  At least this farmer is pretty good about how he treats the land.  She used to rent to a different farmer who completely destroyed her well and two springs with slurry.  She no longer rents to him but the damage is done. They now have to have UV lights in their pump to kill any bacteria and they drink bottled water.  It's a shame that some people are willing to completely destroy the natural habitat of an area to squeeze a few more dollars out of the land.

[lujo238]

Time to start logging my food again.  It helps keep me from going so crazy if I can look back over the week and see how I did.

 

Yesterday

B- 2 eggs, 2 bacon, sautéed potatoes and onion

L- chicken nachos from place next to my work - I asked for double salsa-no sour cream - it does have cheese on it but not too much and they load their nachos with vegetables

D - meatballs in mushroom gravy (delicious but not good for me) mashed potatoes and sautéed squash and onions

S - cantaloupe and a bowl of mango ice cream

 

Today

B- 2 eggs, 2 bacon, sautéed squash and onion

L - chicken salad over romaine and spinach with sliced cucumber and some pickled beets

D - Mexican

S - chocolate bar

 

I really need to work on increasing my water and decreasing my coffee.  This morning I made a smaller pot so we'll see if it gets me through the morning.  I am thinking of doing another whole30.  I have played around with doing a few days here or there and doing 80/20.(which always seems to be more 60/40 at the end of the week)  I am glad to be home and back to my routines.

[lujo238]

So yesterday I did okay the first half of the day but not so good at dinner or snacking.  I had one of those days where I could kill someone for chocolate.  Then around 5 I got my period.  That explains that.  We went out for Mexican which we usually do anyway.  I did have a margarita with dinner. I did not order any dessert even though the fried ice cream was calling my name.  Seriously.  Today I plan to stay in bed for a couple more hours and then do some stuff around the house.  With vacation and all I am behind on everything.  Ugh!

 

Talked to the family last night and we have decided we are doing a whole family whole 30. Yay! We still need to pick our start date and then do all the prep.  My son wants to finish the last of the junk food he has stashed in his room.  He has such terrible acid reflux and always has.  I have been telling him how I think this will help so wish me luck.  If he can get some relief from his daily heartburn maybe he will make more permanent improvements to his diet.  The biggest challenge with him will be giving up sugary drinks. 

 

Today's menu

B - 2 eggs, 3 bacon, sautéed yellow squash

L - I got tired. lazy and cranky and ate pb&j with some crackers

D - roast chicken, carrots and fennel, and three bites of an ear of corn that was the worst corn I ever ate. 

[lujo238]

For dinner tonight we had corn on the cob.  Usually I love it and eat it with nothing on it.  This corn was so bland, after the first bite I added butter, after the second bite I added salt, after the third bite I threw it out.  It tasted like bland mush.  We have been grilling our corn and this time it was boiled.  I don't know if that was the difference or if it was just a bland batch.  It was very disappointing. 

[lujo238]

Weekend over.  Finally got some rest this weekend which was much needed.  It always seems to go by so fast though.  After getting my period on Friday I pretty much gave up on template eating.  I hate when my emotions are so volatile.  Thankfully the worst is over.  Now I need to get back on track as quick as possible. 

 

We had a family discussion this week and my kids have agreed to do a whole family whole 30 next month.  We are planning to start on 8/4 which is one week from today.  That gives us time to clean out the house and stock up on compliant foods.  Also my sister is getting married on Friday, I have a kids birthday party to go to Saturday and my book club is on Sunday so this is a busy weekend coming up.  A clean start on Monday will be good for me.  I had my oldest son make a list of vegetables and other things he will eat that way he has no excuses when it comes time to sit down for dinner. 

 

Today's menu plan

B - 2 eggs, sweet potato hash with sausage

L - leftover chicken and carrots with fennel, and a plum

D - ham with green beans and potatoes

[lujo238]

I am really struggling with sugar this week.  I think it is because we are getting ready to do another w30.  Anyway I did terrible last night and then this morning I left my lunch at home.  Ugh.  Today is already no fun and it just got started.

[mcjule]

Lujo -- I love the whole family Whole 30!