Day 18, Coconut milk & Chocolate Brownie Bites

Wow Day 18!  So glad to report that I'm still on the Reboot wagon.  I took a bit of a turn for the worse Monday night when I got much sicker, had a high fever and was unable to get up and function like a normal being on Tuesday morning.  I guess that's a good thing, because I stayed in bed and slept the whole day until hubby and Jamie returned at 5.  I did not bother to eat or anything else, sleep was so much more important.  Looks like I'm on the mend now, still not 100%, but at least I'm able to sit in front of my pc and work!


I forgot to report back last week about the Coconut Milk I made.  It came out great, much more tasty than the almond milk.  I made it by soaking 1 cup of coconut in 2 cups of boiling water for about an hour, where after I put it through the food processor and strained through a tea towel and sieve.  It's so much more pure than the stuff you buy in a can.





Yesterday I needed a little something to get me through the day.  Perhaps because I went more than 26 hours without eating on Tuesday, perhaps thanks to AF cravings, or perhaps I just needed a little chocolate-TLC.  So I discovered this amazing reboot-friendly recipe for Chocolate Brownie Bites.  It's so good, a real treat!

Self-motivation

Just a bit of self-motivation to proof to myself that it IS happening, and what I'm doing / have been doing is working and that I AM making progress.... slowly, but surely... the mirror/my mind might be telling lies, but somehow the camera paints a clearer picture...

Keep going!  You've come a long way.

Halfway through Reboot!

I made this halfway-mark just by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin.  Heavens know what a terrible week I had last week.  Let me try and sum it up for you.  The week started out with yucky sugar withdrawals that made me emotional, it must have affected hubby too, because that fueled a bit of a fight.  Reminded me so much of the time when we both quit smoking together.  Then Jamie started waking with nightmares, and crying though-out last week's nights.  I had so little sleep with that.  Then hubby and Jamie was in a bumper-basher, luckily not too bad, but our car is now in for repairs.  Luckily nobody got hurt, although it did affect Jamie's emotional state which was already not too good with the nightmares.  Thursday some kid stuck bubblegum in Jamie's hair, and that was an episode too.  Work was hectic and had it's own challenges and drama.  Then the weekend arrived and I thought, yay, at last, now I can rest and chill.  No.  Friday night Jamie started with a fever and slept even worse and wanted me with him the whole night, so I had no sleep, except between 6 and 8 when hubby took care of him and Jamie allowed him.  Saturday was difficult with Jamie and I both sleep deprived - you see my child does not sleep when he's sick - he is the opposite; and most meds make him even more hyper.  Saturday night we also battled with fever and had a bad night.  Sunday morning I started with a chest cold, but decided to take Jamie to the doc so he got his meds to make him better... but no.  The stupid stupid pharmacist over dosed my child - he worked the antibiotics dose out incorrectly, so it affected Jamie badly and he threw up since last night at 7 till well after 8.  After some nausea meds he fell asleep at last, but woke up a couple of times during the night and of course mommy was worried and didn't sleep as much she should have.

Luckily it's a new week, I feel slightly better this morning, Jamie's fever broke during the night and he is much better - thank goodness for the Celestamine.  But yes, it's an absolute miracle that I survived this week without breaking down, and it's even more miraculous that I stayed focused on my eating plan.  I reckoned it's the only thing that I'm able to control during this whirlwind week, and that kept me sane somehow.

Now I'm halfway through Reboot and I'm really enjoying this way of eating.  I bet I would be much sicker if I did not cut out the dairy, so I'm thankful for that!  I'm having so much fun with my food - last week I made a yummy beef & mushroom soup, tuna/sweet potato cakes, we had a braai with veggie kebabs and chicken, I made Reboot-friendly ice-cream, had awesome smoothies and even had Reboot chocolate mousse and bliss balls.  I'm not over-doing it with the sweetie recipes though, but the 3 desserts last week helped me to curb the sweet cravings and I limited my portions.  I can't believe I have not had chocolate for over 2 weeks, that's a record!

I'm feeling good, I see a huge difference in my face and the way my clothes are fitting.  I can barely wait until my next weigh-in which is the 20-day mark on Saturday.

Hubby is also fairing well, but if I suggested a cheat over the weekend he would have said yes, let's do it, but luckily I motivated him to stay on course with our eating plan.  He is such a trouper - he does not cook, but he made us bacon and eggs for breakfast Saturday morning and Sunday evening when I really did not feel well he reheated some chicken, made me a avo, tomato & cashew salad, and even boiled me an egg, even though it was a bit underdone, but I ate it, because I was so thankful!  I already see a big difference in him as well.

Now I'm looking forward to a good week, I'm sure it's going to be great!

Reboot Day 10 and a weigh-in

Today is Day 10.  Every day it just gets easier and easier to do.  The negatives are I have not find my energy surge entirely yet, fall asleep exhausted every night before 9 p.m. and that I'm emotionally... well... a bit unstable at the moment, but much better than I was on Sunday and Monday.  That's honestly the only negatives at the moment, because I'm definitely not going to count my desire for All Gold tomato sauce - my home-made saucy helps a bit with that.

Positives:

• Honestly I don't miss dairy, I honestly don't miss starches.  My mindset about food is changing.  I adapted to coconut milk in my coffee; I see Jamie eat yoghurt and it does not bother me that much.
• Physically I feel better, less bloated, definitely stronger.
• I'm having so much fun in the kitchen creating new things, things I've never tried before.  Today I'm making coconut milk.
• My weekend cheating food binges that used to wreck my efforts are under control; and I bet it's even going to get easier.
• My mind is definitely clearer and less cloudy, I really feel so much better mentally.
• I discovered I'm a strong person, that I can accomplish more than I think I could.
• My hubby is a rock star, and discovering the same things I am... well except for the kitchen fun.

BIG positive.  I have weighed in, and my weight is shifting again and I have dropped a mind-blowing 2.2 kg this past 10 days, and quite a couple of cm as well- around 11 cm all over.

That brings my total weight-loss to 17.1 kg and I am so close to my 20 kg mini-goal, I can smell it!

Oh and did I mention I am officially below my wedding-day weight!  Mentally it bothered me so much, when I was over my wedding weight I kept thinking Johnathan isn't married to all this weight, hehe and now he is losing some of me ;-)  But not my heart :-)

Speaking of Johnathan.  He also weighed in this morning and he has lost a BIG, FAT, WHOPPING 3.9 kg.  I am so proud of him.

Bring on the other 20 days, I am ready WOOOOOHOOOOO!

So chuffed, I made almond butter!

I feel like buying an almond farm and open up a health shop with all the yummy nut products!

Yes, today I made another little something something with almonds.  This time it was almond butter, and it's yummy.  (Gosh, I've said yummy so many times throughout Reboot so far!)

Is started out by dry-roasting the almonds at 180 degrees Celsius, for just a couple of minutes.  I started out with just a small portion of nuts, just to see if I was going to succeed with it. Then I blitzed it in the food processor together with a pinch of salt and about half a teaspoon of coconut oil.  It came together quicker than I'd thought.

I think I used about a cup of almonds and I have almost half a jar of almond butter.  It works out so much cheaper than buying a jar @ R80 at the health shops; and I've even seen it more expensive than that.

#almondheaven  :-)

Day 8 and survived the weekend...

It was tough as nails, but we're 1 weekend down and 3 to go.  It started out well on Saturday with a tiny piece of steak, mushrooms, bacon and salad for breakfast. Then we were off for our visits with my MIL and my parents, but I prepared well and packed food and snacks for our meals and they understood that we weren't allowed any other food or cooldrinks or whatever.

Saturday evening we had chicken, sweet potato chips and salad and a relaxing evening at home and I fell asleep just after 8 on the couch while we were supposed to watch movies.  At 9 I woke up and moved to the bed, but then I couldn't fall asleep again, even though I was so tired.  Just as I started to drift away to dreamland, my little boy woke up with a congested nose, and then proceeded to have a tantrum asking for a dummy he didn't use for weeks and which I tossed away.  It lasted for well over an hour and then I struggled to sleep again as well.

By Sunday morning my energy levels was so low I don't even think it existed.  Started out with a breakfast smoothie with banana, apple, nut butter and coconut milk.  Then off to the shops to do my weekly groceries and had a yummy omelet for lunch.  Then the rest of the afternoon was tough - it was Cupcake Sunday.  Every Sunday my boy loves baking cupcakes with me, and this Sunday he insisted as well.  So the smell of chocolate cake baking almost drove me insane, but I stayed strong.  Luckily I decided to bake a Paleo friendly banana bread to satisfy my taste buds!  I thought it was yummy, but hubby thought it was a poor substitute.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, that was the start of a fight, due to me feeling a bit under-appreciated.  I'm working my bum off in the kitchen to prepare exciting foods, and packing him Reboot breakfast, lunch and two snacks every day, doing all the laundry, cleaning the house, taking care of our child, working full time.  The weekend ended with me crying almost the whole night, and that's how this week started as well.

I'm so emotional and down, I'm so tired, and I feel so heartbroken.  At least there's a silver lining - no emotional eating; and I'm staying strong.

8 Days down, 22 to go!

Reboot Day 5 Update

So today is my fifth day out of the 30-day Challenge and I'm stoked at the progress I already made... happy & relieved.  I imagined it so much harder, but it really, really is doable.

I must say I have not had a load of detox symptoms - only two light headaches which was easily cured, and an upset tummy for about 20 or 30 minutes, and last night I started with a bit of a sore throat.  So if I read all the posts on the Reboot Support Facebook page about detox symptoms, I'm really lucky.  My energy levels are so-so.  I had moments of extreme energy, and then I had moments like last night where I was just exhausted, so I'm hoping for some good all-day energy to kick in soon.

The food we've been eating has been really tasty thus far; and last night I even made Paleo burgers.  The type of bun is made out of almond and coconut flour, eggs and coconut oil, and although it was nice to have a bready thing, it was way too rich, and I only managed to eat almost half of it.  The patty though with the salad was divine!

On Wednesday I made something the Sleek Geeks calls Bliss Balls, it's little chocolaty thingies made out of dates, nut butter, raisins, cacao and coconut - OH MY GOSH, that did satisfy every craving I had, and luckily my fellow-Rebooter had half of the small batch over two days, so I didn't have too much of it to be guilty of overeating!

My hubby is also doing incredibly well on Reboot, I'm so very much impressed with him, because I thought I'm going to have a lot of whining from him about being hungry and craving certain foods etc, but luckily not. He is just upset about coffee as he doesn't like it bitter, and he doesn't like it with coconut or almond milk, so that's just a big struggle for him.  He had a business lunch on Wednesday, fresh on Reboot, and I really thought he was going to cheat, but he had dressing-free salad and two slices of bacon - I'm really, really impressed!  And he already looks leaner to me. He gives me a lot of compliments on my cooking, so I guess he likes the Reboot food :-)

I'm a bit scared of what's before me - the weekend.  This is going to be hard; and this is going to be new for me, but I'm going shopping tonight and I will make sure I stock up on Reboot-friendly and yummy foods for the weekend to see us through.  I will feel so much better once I've survived my first weekend.

Exercise.  I thought I'd give myself off for the first week of Reboot, just to get used to the eating-part first and I did enjoy my break on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday I wanted to get into the swing of things, I missed moving!  So Wednesday I decided to do Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred again and I thought it was going to be easy, after just completing the whole 30 Days last week.  Oh boy, was I mistaking!  Yes it was somewhat easier, but it was still a tough workout.  Thursday I decided to do Jillian Michaels' Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism dvd, which is very cardio intense, but combining it with strength as well, and I suffered through the first 30 minutes and couldn't go on.  Today I'm taking it easy and am just going to do a bit of dancing to keep on moving.

Looking forward to the rest of the challenge, and definitely looking forward to my weigh-in next Wednesday!

I made Almond Milk!

Hehe, don't know why it feels like such an accomplishment when it was so easy to do.  It was extremely satisfactory to see the nuts turning into white milk; and then processing the almond meal too!

I started off by soaking 1 cup of almonds in 4 cups of water for about a day and a half. Then I blitzed it in my smoothie maker, strained it through a sieve lined with a tea towel. It yielded exactly 750 ml almond milk. Then I heated the oven to 100 degrees Celsius and dried out the almond meal which I'm saving for...  I don't know yet, but I'll make a plan for it.

Only thing I'm disappointed about is the taste of almond milk.  I love almonds, but the milk tastes a bit watery,  so perhaps I added too much water. Afterwards I read on the net that some people adds a pinch of salt and vanilla to it.  I made it to add to my coffee, but I tasted it and prefer coconut milk, so will try adding it to my rooibos and perhaps that taste will work for me.

Next up going to make home-made mayo with egg yolk, olive oil and lemon juice for hubby, and some sort of tomato sauce for me with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and try sweeten it with a tiny bit of apple/grape juice.  I'm enjoying trying out new things in the kitchen!

A brand new 30-day challenge!

So yesterday I started a brand new challenge.  I didn't want to write about it yet, I just wanted to get a feel for the first day and see how it goes.

It's a Sleek Geek challenge - 30 days of Reboot.  Their description is to CTRL ALT DELETE your life!  And the challenge involves the following:

• No sugar of any kind, not even sweetener
• No alcohol
• No legumes
• No grains / starches
• No dairy
• No white potatoes.

That's a whole lot of no's!  I'm not focusing on that though - I'm focusing on all the yummy foods that I can eat like meat - roasted chicken, grilled steak, fish, even bacon if you'd like, veggies galore, yummy eggs in any way, nuts, biltong, coconut and coconut milk, fruit (although I limit myself to 2 portions), and cooking with coconut oil which gives an unique flavour to food and has a lot of health benefits.

It does  not come without it's challenges though, because you will be amazed when reading food labels at how much food products contains sugar and grains, so this challenge teaches you to eat clean.

The things I think I will miss the most is:  my beloved All Gold Tomato Sauce, Chocolate of course, Yoghurt and Cheese.  I thought I would miss my coffee which I usually have with aspartame-free sweetener and milk, but yesterday morning I made my coffee with coconut milk and although the first cup tasted really bitter, I managed to drink 80% of my cup and it gave me the caffeine fix I wanted.  Last night I had my second cup and I didn't miss the sweetness and this morning my cup of java was pure bliss.  I thought I would miss potatoes and pasta, but I think I will be all right without and sweet potato is such a yummy and healthier replacement.  So it's true, you can re-train your taste buds!  

My first day went well.  I started the day out with scrambled eggs and tomato, lunch was a bacon and avo salad.  After the salad I was still a bit hungry, so I had almonds and biltong sticks for an afternoon snack and dinner was delicious sweet potato cottage pie with stir fried veg.  When I felt a bit nibblish last night I had a frozen banana which is a much healthier dessert and I still needed my fruit portion so it worked out great.  Today started out with scrambled eggs, tomato and avo, lunch will be cottage pie left overs, and planning a lovely roast chicken, pumpkin and stir-fried cabbage dinner.  So you see, this challenge isn't about boring food, it's not about starving yourself, it's just making better food choices, and they are delicious food choices, so I bet it would yield great results for me as well.

I have so much inspiration to complete this challenge.  Fabulous people who have completed it and inspired me to join the Sleek Geek Reboot Challenge who all succeeded with flying colours and absolutely stunning results.  A couple friends who are even going for a second round of Reboot - Jess & Rox, you rock!  This is a great challenge, one that actually leads into a whole new lifestyle.

The best part of the challenge is that my husband is also joining me on the Reboot.  He is not sold on the idea yet, didn't like his bitter coffee, but he loved his meals yesterday; and I know he is going to love the results, as soon as his detox headache (which started this morning) gives way and he gets that boost of energy everyone talks about.

Looking forward to the challenge and learning new recipes and having FUN with my food!

30 Day Shred Challenge Completed!

I'm writing with so much relief this morning; and so much pride.  I completed my 30 Day Shred Challenge this morning.  I started out on the 2nd of April; and endured 30 of Jillian Michael's kick-ass workouts and I came out on top.  I can not begin to describe how much this challenge has meant to me; how much I've learned about myself.  And yes, it's the second time I'm completing this, but the first time was different - I did it, I went through the motions and when I was done, I was done.  This time was so much different, because I started out with the mindset that I'm going to change my body for the better, I really worked hard, I've put in my everything in every single workout just because I wanted to be stronger, be fitter and bettered the body I live in.

 Big thing I wanted to proof was that the number on the scale did not matter as much as I thought it would or should.  For 2 solid months now I did not lose a single gram, in fact - since the beginning of the challenge I have gained 900 grams.  But my body has changed.  I look leaner, and most importantly I feel stronger.  After my c-section I never thought I would ever be able to feel my stomach muscles again, but my core is growing stronger.  So strong in fact that this morning I was lying on my back, I lifted my 15kg boy in the air, sat upright and stood up - all with him still being held in the air.  So strength training is a definite must in my future.  This cardio-bunny has come a long way.

Here's my results for the 30 Days!

 
 

Ready for my next challenge Monday - Reboot Detox!

It's Monday, but it's okay!

Urgh what a rough time!  Last week Monday hubby's wisdom tooth was pulled.. in the dentist chair... pulled... so he was in a lot of pain this week; so much that infection kicked in and he is man down for a whole week thus far.  Then I started with yucky sinusses on Friday... getting worse over the weekend, so much so that I didn't feel well and barely breathed this weekend.  Between the two of us, I have no idea how we managed to keep it together and still looked after our almost 3-year old.  We only almost had a blocked toilet after little mister tried to dispose of a whole pack of wet wipes... and poor Jade, our cat, was fed more than usual... but the good thing is our house is still standing and everyone's alive!

I took this weekend off from Killian so had two rest days instead of only one.  I just completed day 26, with a little less vigour than usual, but at least I managed it.  If all goes well I do hope that I'll be completing it on Friday.  So fingers crossed!

My planning for Reboot next week is going well.  I stocked up over the weekend on a whole lot of Paleo foods and researched a lot and tried putting a list together of meal-ideas.  This week I'm trying to do a sort of warm-up for the 30 days, and have started with a Paleo breakfast and lunch today.  I'm looking forward to the challenge, although I'm a bit scared to tell you the truth!

Then something that has bothered me for a while now... why is it that people generally think that because you're overweight that you don't eat healthy, you don't exercise and you don't feed your family proper, nutritional food.  I'm so fed-up for comments from family and friends implying that we don't live a healthy lifestyle.  This when in fact that I've already lost a bucket load of weight over the past 16 months, exercise 5 - 6 times a week and if you looked at my food diary you would think I'm a skinny girl... and yes I feed my family the same foods that I eat!  I can't help that I lose weight much slower than the average Joe...  I can't help that even though I pack my hubby a healthy breakfast and lunch every single day to take to work, and give him a nutritional dinner at home that he eats and drinks stuff behind my back that's out of my control and that he does not exercise.  And yes, my boy is a picky eater, but I make sure that he eats at least one piece of fruit or vegetables with his dinner every single night; and I make sure he eats out of all 5 food groups.  I'm proud that I have a healthy, active boy with no signs of being over or under weight.  So I wish people will just take their assumptions and shove it and concentrate on their own families!  *vent over*

I'm going to make this week a good one!  I've got a lot to look forward to!  Completing the 30 Day Shred on Friday - I'm so looking forward to it.  And then on Saturday I'm off to tick two things off my bucket list: 1.  Meet my special friend and weight-loss buddy, Jess and 2.  See Bon Jovi live in concert :-D  Now that's loads to smile about.  So the sinus-pains better bugger off, I have no time for it!

Blood Test Results

On Tuesday afternoon the nurse at the doctor's office phoned me telling me that my results are in and the doctor wants to see me - appointment schedule for late yesterday afternoon.  It was a hellish long 2-day wait and I was so nervous because with so many tests it could be anything ...

So yesterday I sat in front of the doctor with baited breath fearing the worst, but at the same time hoping he has some answers for me.  And answers he did have.  All my tests were fine with the exception of one and that is my insulin resistance test- apparently I'm borderline insulin resistant - not quite there yet, but close enough to make my weight-loss journey a challenging one.

After some research on the net I have learned that some of the symptoms are:

• Weight gain, particularly around the middle.  Hell yes!
• Difficulty concentrating (brain fog).  Another big yes
• Lethargy.  Yup yup
• Hunger.  Yes from time to time
• High blood pressure.  Occasionally, but suffered with high blood pressure when I was pregnant.

When the doctor told me about it, a light bulb went on in my head and I immediately told him, well I've got a plan of action ready for it and I told him all about The Sleek Geek Reboot Challenge and I told him that I was toying with the Paleo idea as well.  He agreed and mentioned Tim Noakes and said that it's definitely the right approach to take for me right now.

So that's what I'm going to do as soon as I'm done with my 30 Day Shred challenge, right after my special Jozi trip to visit my superdee-duper friend and the Bon Jovi concert coming up.  Challenge set to commence 13 May for sure!

After the challenge the doctor told me to phone him and let him know my results and if the results wasn't good enough, he's going to put me on some sort of experimental drug.  I didn't ask him more about it, because at that stage my brain was already in overdrive planning.

So dearest blog readers... I can't be a Chocoholic no more!  No no no... I don't want to become diabetic and it's still in my power to reverse and that's exactly what I'm going to do.  

From now on I'm a Healthaholic!