I had a dinner roll with my curry last night!

... and I didn't even cheat my Reboot *big smiles*

Great find!  Huge!  Reboot Friendly!  Winning!

I found this recipe on paleospirit.com.  I made mince curry with sweet potato last night and thought that I'd try this recipe out - it would be a big spoil for us to celebrate Day 10.

First off I did not have enough olive oil at hand because I prefer cooking with coconut oil these days, so I substituted.  Also my mixture was very runny, so I had to add more tapioca flour and coconut flour to get it doughy.

The result was great.  Nice and crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.  And I spread a little bit ghee on it for extra yummyness.   I don't know how, but I resisted and stuck to a small roll along with my dinner.  Hubby was in 7th heaven, because he really miss his bread.

*I love Paleo-cooking!*

One third through Reboot v.2!

I can't believe that today is Day 10 already.  This week is going really well - I have been able to cut out snacking quite a bit, stayed away from Reboot desserts - except for a few strawberries, and I have added two cups of green tea a day.  Luckily I found a Spar brand green tea that's really nice - it's Honeybush Green Tea with berries and I drink it with a blob of coconut milk and then it's pure bliss.

I have not weighed today as planned, because AF arrived just last night and I know that will cause bloat and excess water and I don't want to be disappointed when I stand on the scale.  So I have decided to rather weigh in when I'm halfway through.

Still going strong with the Shredding too!  Today is Day 8 in that department and I'm already dreading Level 2 which I will be starting on Monday with the many plank-moves.  I hate planks with a passion... but that being said, I also have to say that I got great results from the planks last time around, so I will be doing them and try enjoying them too.

Found my groove

Okay at last it feels like I found my groove on this current challenge.  Feeling a bit more energetic today on Reboot Day 8; and 30 Day Shred Day 6.  At last I feel the desire to rock it and complete it and not just going through the motions.

BUT, and this is a big BUT... something is up with my body as I'm showing a HUGE gain at the moment.  Okay the word huge might be dramatizing it a bit as 2 kg can be water retention, but I thought I would have seen a small loss at least, also don't feel a huge difference on my clothes.  Something just ain't feeling right.

So I'm trying to cut out bananas, limit my nuts, and up my green tea intake, and keeping a hawk's eye on my portion sizes.  Will then re-assess on my Reboot Day 10 when I do my first official weigh-in on this challenge.

Hubby also joined me on Reboot again, so proud of him that he is sticking with me, although he asked me if we can be a little less strict, but he respected me when I said we have to do it the right way.  My first Reboot taught me discipline which I lacked previously, so I want to stick with it for now.  One little small cheat, usually leads to a lot of cheating and over-doing it and I need to change that pattern in my life.

I'm feeling optimistic! Yay!  No excuses!

Day 5

Oh I had plenty of reasons this week as to why I can't.  Day 2 I started with a sore throat, and full-throttle lethargy along with it.  Day 2 I was so sore because of the first day's workout, same Day 3, same Day 4. Day 4 I had a terrible headache. Work was hectic, trying to sleep train my toddler, house was in shambles and the laundry kept piling up, pre-pms munchies and and and.

But here I am on Day 5, and I know I can do it.  I know I have it in me, I know I want to.  I just wish life would give me a freaking break and make it easier for me.  Today I feel worse, full on head-cold me thinks, or sinus troubles... not sure.  So taking the day off training, WILL feel better and do it tomorrow.  Sticking to my Reboot plan although hubby already started with "can't we do a little cheat like popcorn".  Nope we can't, because I'm doing this.  I can, because I need and want to; and that's enough reason.  I'm on my way to a healthy me.

Double Challenge

I need to put it in writing and make it public before I chicken out!

I have finally decided to restart my Reboot Challenge today.  I ate crap this past 6 days and now I feel crap; and I must have gained 10 kilograms, or rather it feels like it.  So Reboot number 2 is the only way forward. I have not weighed this morning, I'm going to use my weigh-in of last Wednesday as starting point and hopefully I would get rid of whatever I gained this past 6 days in the next 10 days.

Challenge number two is Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred once again.  This will be my third time and I hope that in conjunction with Reboot it will yield even better results than last time around.  Last time I gained 900 gram, but lost 40 cm, so I hope I will lose weight and centimeters with combining the two challenges.

I am excited.

The Results are in!

I could hardly sleep last night, I was so excited, and a little worried about my last weigh-in too, because with me you just never know!  Woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't get myself to sleep again, so I counted down the time until hubby leaves to take Jamie to school and then it was weigh-in time!

*And I would like to apologise in advance, this post is going to consist out of a lot of exclamation marks*

For the last third of Reboot I am down 1.1 kg. Bringing my total for the 30 days to 4.6 kg, which is the best results I have had ever... like in ever!  Normally I aim for a loss of 500 grams a week, which is sometimes a long stretch, so an average of more than a kilogram a week is fireworks for me :-)

My total weight-loss stand on 19.5 kg - so very close to my mini goal of 20 kg... which I secretly hoped would be reached today, but it was a long shot.  But I'm right on it and that goal will be met very soon, together with my goal to get my BMI out of the obese range.  To date I have lost 19% of my original body weight... so I have lost about a 5th of myself.  Hehe love me some stats!

Did my photo comparison as well, and I am pleased to see my tummy is much, much smaller and my exercise pants (which I bought 3 months ago) is already baggy on me.

Love seeing physical reminders of how my body is changing.  It makes everything worthwhile.

Now I'm just sitting in anticipation, wanting to see how much hubby lost!

When he is back, he is going to weigh-in, we'll have some breakfast and then we have both put leave in for the day so we're going on a date!  Movies, lunch and some shopping.  It's our little celebration for completing Reboot.  Looking forward to it!

Thank you for all the kind comments and support on my blog, each and every comment helped and motivated me to get through this.  xx

*edit
Hubby is down a total of 7kg for the Reboot Challenge.  So proud!

Quickly did my measurements as well - down a total of 24.5 cm which is good, but not as good as my 40 cm when I did the 30 Day Shred.  So tomorrow I'm meeting up with Jillian again :-)

Day 30... I made it!!!!

Here I am, almost halfway through my last day on Reboot.  30 Days since I had any grains or starches, sugar or sweeteners, dairy, legumes, alcohol and most importantly chocolate.  I saw Karin, Roxy and then Jess and so many other friends complete Reboot with awesome results.  I looked at them, admiring them, and thought wow they are awesome, I will never, ever be able to do that.  I loved my "everything in moderation" approach.  And then I struck another weight-loss plateau, I learned I was borderline insulin resistant and that's slowing down my capability to lose weight, and I saw someone on the Reboot support forum saying the following:

"Everything in moderation?  Do you also want your health in moderation?"

No, I certainly did not.  So with little nudges from my Rebooter-friends, I started this 30 day challenge.  I am pleased I did and I feel good about it.

I had so much fun in the kitchen, trying so many new recipes and found so many yummy ones that's keepers.  I learned that I don't need sugar for treats - there's so many things I can make without sugar or starches: chocolate mousse with coconut milk, ice-cream with frozen bananas, the most delicious chocolaty bliss balls or chocolate brownie bites with nuts and fruit, chocolate cake with mere banana, egg and cacao, banana bread with coconut, eggs and bananas - the possibilities are endless.

Okay I had my fair share of stir-fries, eggs, salads and roasted veg, but I will gladly have some more cottage pie with sweet potato, beef, mushroom & veg soup, tuna cakes, almond-crusted chicken, yummy curry with veggie mash, steak with mushrooms and sweet potato chips; and so many more.  That's why it seems so doable to continue with this way of eating in the future as well.

I do miss a couple of things - my beloved tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, warm toast with butter and avo, a bowl of pasta, and I would give about anything for a Lindt ball.  So I am definitely going to have these in the next 6 days before giving them up again.  I want to see if they taste as good as I imagined, I almost hope they don't.

But for now I still have two Reboot meals to get through - delicious chicken and veg for lunch, and tuna, bacon and avo salad for dinner.  Tomorrow my last weigh-in and measurements :-)  Hope the scale treats me well!

Day 29, Life after Reboot & My Hubby, the Rock Star

Holy moly, this past month flew by.  I expected it to drag out and for it to be pure torture all the way.  But no, here I am on Day 29 - my second last day on Reboot.  It went by so fast, and it wasn't so difficult as I imagined it to be, but I'm still thankful that I'll be able to have a slice of toast on Wednesday morning :-)

What are my plans after Reboot?  I'm still not entirely sure, but I'm definitely going to restart the 30 Day Shred.  I feel it has done so much for my body last time around, that I definitely want to do it again.  I hate to admit, but I actually love it.  Then I'm *thinking* about starting my second Reboot on Tuesday the 18th of June after a short break and the long-weekend.  I would finish just in time for my boy's third birthday, and my own birthday a week later.  Don't know if I have the guts to restart it so soon after the first one, but I sure want to have the results, so I might just do it.  Otherwise I'm definitely going to follow Paleo strictly, BUT with the odd non-Paleo treat once in a while.

I just want to take the moment and say what an absolute rock star I think my hubby is.  He stuck with me through out this Reboot challenge, stayed 100% cheat-free, embraced it as a possible new lifestyle (with the odd treat for him as well) and even made me Reboot-friendly breakfast a couple of times, and braai'd for me twice.  Previously whenever I told him he was responsible for dinner or lunch, he would climb in his car and drive to a take-away joint and buy us something, he never ever cooks - so this is HUGE!

So far he lost incredibly well - he started out @ approx 115'ish and after 20 days he was at 109'ish.  He went from snoring constantly, and loudly, every single night to not snoring at all.  So I am unable to stay in bed with him all night and sleep, I'm not taking my pillow to the couch whenever he starts snoring any longer, because it's not needed and that makes me oh so happy.

I can see the difference in his body so clearly, his face is so much skinnier and he is busy losing his tummy.  After so long, he decided he wants to change as well.  I am so relieved, because I want him to be healthy, now I just need to get him to exercise on a regular basis.

Well done, Liefling, so proud of you xx

Update on Day 26 & Reboot-friendly Chocolate Mug Cake

Today is my 26th day on Reboot.  Including today I have 5 days left of this very strict programme.  I wish I experienced it like most of the Rebooters do, but it seems like my journey is much different than what's average.

Where other people really struggled with detox-headaches, I didn't really - I only had a light headache on two occasions - that's a good thing!

Other people experienced a bout of energy after about a week, I'm still waiting for mine, but I'm a full time working mom, so I don't think that's meant for my poor body.

Some say that after Day 18 there's no more cravings and that you will feel like a tiger and do not want the Reboot 30 days to end... I have had my worst cravings this week, and no it's not my time of month, but I would kill for anything sweet.  Yesterday I kissed my toddler boy just after he ate a block of chocolate and I tasted the sweet, sweet chocolate on his lips and it almost killed me... so off I went to make myself Paleo Chocolate Mousse to keep myself sane.  I also made myself chocolate mug cake this week and it's totally Reboot-friendly although a bit calorie-dense. But I had to, just to help me and it did.

I was taking this week easy exercise-wise because I still had a nasty cough, but it seems better today, so will put in a good session today.  The first in two weeks, but I had to take the break with our whole family being sick, energy levels so low and work being beyond hectic.  I feel quite guilty, it's such a long break and I'm sure it did hurt my weight loss efforts.  I'm just going to have to make up for it.

Now the 4th and last Reboot weekend lies before me.  I will keep the cravings at bay, I will put in some great exercise and get calories galore burnt, I will get some sleep and this will be a GOOOOOOOD weekend!  I can't wait!

REBOOT-FRIENDLY CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

There are quite a few recipes on the net.  Most of them made with banana and egg, and adding almond butter, so I tweaked it a bit adding dates for a sweeter taste and using macadamia nut butter and vanilla.

It's absolutely delicious, especially if eaten warm.

1 Small Banana - mashed
1 Egg
1.5 Tablespoon Macadamia nut Butter
2 Tablespoons Cacao
1 - 2 Dates very finely chopped or mashed
A few drops of vanilla extract

Mix everything together in a mug, pop in the microwave for 2 to 2½ minutes on high and VOILA!

Reboot update - two thirds done!

I'm so close to Day 30 I can almost smell it!  On Saturday I had my second weigh-in and I lost another 1.3 kilograms which makes my Reboot total 3.5 kg and my overall total 18.4 - so so very close to 20!

The second part does not show such a great loss as the first 10 days, but it's totally understandable since I was sick and I guess my body didn't perform to it's fullest potential and I did not exercise either.  I am still very, very happy with the result and I will be ecstatic if I show the same type of loss in the last 10 days.

This weekend was my third weekend on Reboot and it does get easier although weekends are definitely the hardest.  I just made sure we have healthy snacks available to us and that really helped, plus I tried making special weekend meals like on Saturday I made steak with a type of mushroom sauce and sweet potato chips and on Sunday we had a breakfast-lunch.

I still don't feel 100% healthy, still struggling with a big of a cough and a runny nose, but I don't know which medicines to take because the pills that usually works to dry me up contains sugar... yeah, can you believe it!  So I only take an antihistamine and a nose spray to help me through,

Hubby is doing brilliantly as well, I can barely believe his success!  This week he is down 2.5 kg which makes his total 6.4 thus far.  It should grate my cheese that he lose so much faster than I am, especially since he does zero exercise, but I really don't mind and am so happy for him.  It took a long time for him to realise he should lose weight and this is the first time he has stuck to it and made that commitment.

Paleo is definitely the way to go it seems.  This is the first time my body reacted so well to a certain way of eating.  Look I still have not found that energy boost everybody is talking about, and I still feel rather crappy because of me not being well, and I still fall asleep in front of the television every night before 9, but I really do feel I would have been off worse if this wasn't the way I was eating.  So definitely going to continue this way of eating after the 30 Day Challenge, there's just a few things I would like to add to my diet in moderation.  It's definitely not going to be sugar, that I can tell you!

Some real progress at last!  It feels like the weight of the world has been removed from my shoulders!  The only real worry now- to replace my old clothes which looks terrible on me!  The majority of my closet is still size 18 - 20, when my new size 16's is already beginning to sit lose on me.  Next stop - size 14!  Oh and I have to have my ring resized - I had such a fright on Saturday when I ran over a street and all of a sudden my ring flew off and rolled over the road!  So I'm officially thinner than the day we got engaged... can't remember when last I was in the low 80's - probably a good 8 to 10 years ago.

I feel so good!  *insert the song here*