clean eating

Whole 30-Lessons Learned

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

Today is day 28.  I have gone 28 days without eating sugar, processed food, pre-packaged meals, dairy, beans, grains, and most impressively alcohol.

I can’t believe it.  When I started this experiment (what else do you call it), I was not sure how it would go.  I have tried eating and being healthy 19,840,785,321 times before and have only stuck with something once before (that was way back in mid-90’s when I wasn’t so busy and when I look back–it also wasn’t so healthy).

I have used my busy life as an excuse for so long.  I’m too tired to cook. I’m too tired to workout.  I have too many papers to grade.  The kids have too many activities to get to.  I just want a pint of ice cream.  I could go on for days with the excuses I have allowed to dictate my behavior.

Food addiction is real.  Sugar addiction is real.  Sugar is in everything.  I have to shop at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) just to find bacon and sausage that don’t have added sugar.  Eating healthy and whole is easy.  Finding the paying for the food is not easy.  Last weekend, I went to 3 different stores to get our week’s groceries and spend over $200 to feed the four of us for the week.

But, I did it.  I am going to do it again and again and again.  At this point, eating isn’t about losing weight (that would be awesome) but that can’t be my focus.  My focus is on being healthy and getting my PCOS under control–I have too long ignored it.  Eating is also about how I feel.  and I feel great–I’m still exhausted at the end of the day (but that is life).

I have learned so much during this almost 30 days.  I don’t need food to feel good.  And by food, I mean cookies, cakes, ice cream, fries, bread, cheese, etc.  So many of the cravings I was giving into were mental cravings as opposed to physical cravings.  Not be allowed to have trigger foods and figuring out what those are has been so eye-opening for me. I don’t eat when I am bored anymore.  I drink water.  I don’t snack on the kids food.  I have not even  licked non-compliant food off my finger.

We had a trivia night on Friday and I only ate the food I brought.  I didn’t touch the pizza, the cheese, salami or crackers, the alcohol, or the dessert.  And it was easy.  I wasn’t temped by any of the food.  I feel as though I have made real progress with my addiction to food (specifically processed food).  I don’t miss anything.

Results:
I have kicked my old habits.
I have lost 11lbs (only changing what I eat–I’m adding exercise in for the next round).
I don’t miss any foods.
I feel good about doing it and accomplishing it.

Here is to the next 30 days.

Juice Cleanse Day 1

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

So, Over the last year or so I have tried to get my healthy eating in check. With kids, work, activities, etc., it is have been so hard. Last week I found myself on a Kairos retreat for 3 days with 40 teenage boys and the food options were so not healthy. I ate and felt so sick the whole time. Bloated, tired, and full.

I decided then that I clearly needed something drastic to put me back on course. So, I opted for a juice cleanse. after some research I settled on Life Juice’s 3-day cleanse. I know this isn’t “healthy” but I need something to reset my body and my eating habits. I’m not doing it to lose weight, but to only feed healthy into my body. I am just doing 3 days, as I think that is enough of a commitment to reprogram my brain to crave healthy food and not the processd crap I have been eating.

I woke up this morning and of course was hungry–I’m sure a big part of that was that I knew I wouldn’t be eating.  I had my water with lemon and then I did have 1/2 cup of black coffee.  I know that they recommend herbal tea and no coffee–but I needed something to satiate me.  I also had 8 raw almonds.  Just writing that seems ridiculous.

AT 9 am I had my first drink–I’ll have it earlier tomorrow.

I have to admit at this point I am starving.  But I’m going to push through.  I do have some celery to munch on if I really need it and my raw almonds.  But I am going to try to push through today and hope that tomorrow will be easier.

 

Clean Eating Week 3

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

So, I totally failed again this week with the whole taking pictures of glorious food.  Well, maybe part of the problem is I didn’t make a bunch of glorious food.  I lived on chicken and various veggies all week as I was super busy.  The one thing I did make this week that is mostly clean is Apple Pie.  The kids went apple picking with their grandparents (Lori, are there pictures?) and brought home a bounty of apples.

I say the apple pie was partially clean because I cannot (will not) make crust without butter.  It just can’t be done.  You need that to get that flaky pie crust that makes pie worth eating.  So, the crust isn’t completely clean–but the filling is and I have to say that it was really really good–I know sorry no pictures.

Otherwise–this wasn’t a great week for clean eating.  I’d say I was about 75% clean, which isn’t bad but is certainly not where I want to be.  But that apple pie?  Scrumptious.

 

Clean Eating Week 2

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

I’ll just start off by saying–I don’t have any photos this week.  I meant to take photos of the food–but I didn’t for a number of reasons, like some of the food didn’t turn out too pretty :0.

My favorites food this week was the whole wheat, black bean ravioli, with a pasilla cream sauce and grilled shrimp.  I made the ravioli.  I made the filling and I made the sauce.  The noodles didn’t turn out so pretty (so, I didn’t photograph the process).  I have decided that I really need a ravioli maker, because doing it without the proper equipment is hard, no matter how easy people make it look like on TV.  Mine were ugly and looked like the kids made them–but they were yummy.

The cream sauce and filling were delicious–the filling was simply, black beans, greek yogurt, garlic, onion, cumin and smoked paprika all blended together and it was really really good.  I look forward to making it when I have the right tools (and then I’ll document it).  I also made some whole wheat fettuccine and am looking forward to eating that this week with chicken and more of the pasilla cream sauce–yummy.

I also made some clean banana muffins from The Gracious Pantry. I made her basic recipe but put fresh blueberries in each muffin for a little added texture and I added walnuts to the batter as well.  They are absolutely delicious and the kids love them too–total bonus.

This was a rough clean eating week for me, but was able to pull it off and am really happy with how I feel.  I can certainly tell a difference and I am really liking it.

 

 

Favorite Foods from Week 1 Of Clean Eating

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

I eat pretty “clean” as it is–but I am committed to doing it 99% of time (I need wine every once in awhile–and my hubs makes the best chocolate chip cookies).  This week I discovered Pureed Cauliflower and I have to say it was awesome.  I steamed a whole head, then blended it with roasted garlic, salt, pepper, about a 1/4c of Parmesan (maybe less) and then milk as needed for texture.  It was so light and fluffy–next time I take some pictures.  I really enjoyed it and even my husband liked it.

I also made a black bean and feta cheese stuffed turkey burger–which was really awesome and I paired it again with my pureed cauliflower–a whole head made about 3 servings for me.

My final favorite meal of the week was spaghetti squash with a turkey, mushroom and pepper tomato sauce.  It was really good and while I don’t eat a lot of pasta, spaghetti squash is the perfect substitute for pasta.

I am enjoying the clean eating–I stick with protein shake for breakfast–fruit (usually berries), greek yogurt, and whey protein.  I feel a lot better and have a lot more energy. I also am craving a lot less sugar/bad for me things.

This week I am going to attempt to make sweet potato gnocchi (we’ll see how that goes) and some sweet potato ravioli with homemade whole wheat pasta for the ravioli.  I’ll take some pictures and detail their deliciousness here next week for a look back at Week 2 of clean eating.