#21DSD ~ Day 5 &6: Eat the beef....Filet's, Rib-eyes and hamburgers, oh my!

Days five and six were spent away from home.  I was super excited about this trip as it meant no cooking and cleaning for the next two days.  Hallelujah!  However, I wasn't quite sure yet how hard it would be to stick to this detox when away from home and how tempted I would feel about indulging in a glass of wine. I learned two lessons while away.

Lesson #1  You can always find a meal that fits into your detox plan and, trust me, there are some very tasty options out there.

Lesson #2  If you find yourself with extremely low self control and cannot resist ordering a glass of wine, make it a very dry red.

We started out with a casual eat-in lunch cafeteria style.  I went for sushi and tried to feel satisfied and full while my husband scarfed down this ginormous bun-less hamburger.  It was the first time my mouth has watered at the sight of food in days.  I couldn't resist and swiped a couple bites.  Sometimes a little grease and a big hunk of meat are just the things a husband needs to make it through this detox.

Dinner was Filet Mignon.  The picture says it all.  It was amazing and so encouraging to be enjoying food while on a "diet."

The next morning we stopped for breakfast at another cute restaurant with a mouthwatering menu.  My favorite meal option for breakfast out is an omelet.  This one really spoiled me.  Lobster and bacon.  I think we could get used to this.  Unfortunately, it was time to head home and back to reality.  No more fancy restaurant meals and definitely no more wine.

We stopped for lunch on the way back.  I was feeling a veggie deficit and ordered a salad with no dressing.  I was somewhat skeptical that I would love this salad but the avocado, red onion and bacon bits provided plenty of flavor.  I was pleasantly surprised that I could enjoy a salad without the dressing.  And it looked pretty good too.

My Friday evening labors paid off when I discovered that I could easily reheat the meatloaf and mashed parsnips for a quick and easy meal.  Now I'm off to adjusting this week's menu in the hopes of reducing the time I spend in the kitchen.

#21DSD ~ Day 4 "Pass me a drink."

Today was especially challenging.  I woke up a raving lunatic and went to bed a tranquilized sugar detoxer.  Today was a tough day. I woke up determined to cook my husband enough food to avoid any hunger pangs he could possibly feel.  That resulted in two hours of cooking up Sausage "Biscuits" and a "Crustless Quiche" that could be used for days of leftovers down the road.  The sausage biscuits were to die for.  I scarfed down the biscuits like I hadn't enjoyed a slice of bread in years.  I had to gulp down water just to avoid choking on the "carbs."

Then lunch came.  I was not looking forward to lunch.  So much so that I waited until 2 p.m. to even think about lunch time.  I ended up with leftovers of the meatloaf that I made the previous night.  With the lack of hunger I ended up waiting until snack time when I really got down to enjoying my food.  A slice green apple and almond butter.  This is my favorite.

We had guests over for dinner so I went with an easy Chicken Tortilla-less Soup.  It was something everyone could enjoy while I could basque in the wonderful idea of cooking a meal that did not require the use of several different cooking tools, hours worth of chopping and even more hours worth of cleaning up.  And the meal looked very presentable if I do say so myself.  Now I will also have to admit that I googled sugar'less drinks and discovered the vodka, gin and whiskey all fell into that category so I enjoyed a vodka with water and lime.  I loved it.

#21DSD ~ Day 3 "Drastic times call for drastic measures."

Isn't that just the truth.  I am sorry for what I said when I was hungry.  Sorry to the lady in the grocery store for knocking into your cart and then remarking to you how you should not leave your cart in the middle of the aisle.  Sorry to my kids whom I shushed last night.  When they asked why, I replied with "you're being annoying."  And sorry to those of you who call me just before lunch and want to talk business.  All I can think about is getting to my lunch that is sitting in the fridge and calling my name.  Haven't you figured out by now that 11:45 a.m. is just not the right time?  Anyway, on to more important things.  Like cutting sugar out of your diet and then tempting yourself with the sweet delectable treats that you were stupid enough to stock up on before this detox.

When you find yourself lacking self-control get rid of the temptation.  Throw that leftover Pop Tart out the window.  I know it’s been sitting on the dirty floor of the car but sugar is like a drug addiction.  You don’t care where it came from you just know you want it.  Admit it…you’ve picked up snacks your kid has dropped on the floor and popped them in your mouth.  Only to turn around and find your child with the saddest most pitiful look on his face remarking “Mommy, don’t eat my snack.”  If you’ve never found yourself in this situation then – on second thought – maybe you don’t need to try out this whole sugar detox thing.  Either that or I’m just plain crazy.  This morning when I got back into the car after dropping the kids off, I glanced down to see Taylor’s leftover Pop Tart on the center console.  First thought “One little bite won’t hurt.”  Second thought “I must get this out of the car.”  Emergency ejection commenced.  I rolled down my window and chucked it out.  Problem solved.  Until I was gathering my work gear from the back seat and found a package of mini muffins on the floor.  Plan B.  Stomp on them until they no longer resemble yummy, edible plumps of sweet goodness.  Then throw them in the trash.  Now off to my office which sits no more than 100 feet from a 20 foot shelf of all the carb-loaded snacks a girl could dream of.  Drastic times call for drastic measures. 

Despite the morning temptations, I found myself feeling pretty good today.  I filled up on all my meals without ever fully finishing a meal and felt energized and upbeat the rest of the day.

Here’s the rundown of my menu for the day:

Day 3

Breakfast

Leftover Vanilla Bean Banana n’ Oatmeal.  I think it tasted even better the second day.  I got about halfway through it and felt full.  I actually was about to keep eating when this realization kicked in.  So I just stopped eating.  It was crazy and unbelievable but I really wasn’t hungry anymore.  I’m pretty sure this is the result of cutting out sugar.  I believe the taste of sugar works to encourage more cravings and less satiation.

Lunch
I meant to eat a snack since I had a one o' clock meeting that would delay my lunch until two.  Trust

me...you don't want to be Hangry when going into a meeting with your boss.  Surprisingly, I felt fine!  A couple times during the meeting I thought "Here it comes.  Any minute now I'm going to turn into a snarky bitch" until the meeting was over and I realized it never happened.  And the leftover tuna tasted much better today.  I paired that with my remaining 8 oz. of Kombucha and, again, felt satisfied enough that I didn't even finish my lunch.
Easy shortcut for on the go is Wholly Guacamole's 100 calorie packs.  They also pack way more flavor than avocado slices as they include dried jalapeno, garlic and salt.  I think this really added a lot of flavor to the meal.

Dinner
This is where it all went down hill.  I snacked on some Almonds while preparing a meatloaf and cooking parsnip mashed potatoes.  As the meal was nearing complete (and I had begun to get extremely hungry as the time was nearing eight 'o clock) I removed the meatloaf from the oven only to find it needed 20 more minutes of cook time.  Thankfully I had some hard boiled eggs in the fridge.  I quickly scarfed one down and waited for the timer to go off.  The meatloaf turned out to be great.  The parsnip mash was not my favorite.  It had this overwhelming sweet taste that I just couldn't deal with.

Now as I finish up this blog and look forward to crashing for the evening, I'm reconsidering tomorrow's breakfast.  Spend another 40 minutes in the kitchen cooking up a quiche or fry some eggs and bacon?  Only tomorrow will tell.

#21DSD ~ Day 2 "I did not eat the pizza!"

Oh man!  I needed this quote today.  It’s definitely not going to be easy.  I am straight up exhausted from yesterday and it’s not because of the absence of sugar.  I think that’s how people are so successful with the plan.  They spend the first few days elbow deep in almond meal, ground beef, coconut milk and greens that they have little time to crave even a little teaspoon of something sweet.  On the plus side, I woke up this morning, threw all of my prepared foods in a bag and was ready to go.  That’s got to be worth the trouble, right?

Before I go into details on today’s meals, I just need to send a shout out to my husband who completed Day One AND Two all by the book.  No cheating!  You are awesome!

Here we go!

Day Two

Breakfast

This is my favorite detox breakfast.  It’s called Banana Vanilla Bean n’ Oatmeal.  Of course, there is no oatmeal in this concoction.  It’s coconut milk, eggs, a green-tipped banana and chia seeds.  Chilled overnight it resembles the texture of oatmeal and is a great meal to tame your hunger until lunch.

Lunch

Jalapeno-Dill Tuna Salad.  This is served up with half an avocado.  First bite.  I do not like tuna.  Second bite.  I could get used to this.  Third bite.  I better like this because I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch and I'm going on a cooking strike tonight.  I will not let cooking control my life.  The pen marks that are still on the wall in our living room, the toys all over the floor and the pile of dishes in the sink might say otherwise.

Snack...this was more like grazing.  I started with 8 oz. of Kombucha (this is a probiotic) and moved on to a green apple later in the afternoon.  That seemed to quell whatever creeping hunger I usually feel around 3 p.m.  My new fave is to enjoy a hot tea in the late afternoon as something to do while I finish out my work day.

Dinner
Leftover Meatza!  What better option to take to a party where pizza is the main dish.  Granted, I was salivating over all the cheese and crust surrounding me.  I even contemplated stealing a bite or two.  I thought better of it.  What could be more embarrassing then bringing this sad excuse for a pizza to a group gathering?  Answer:  being caught scarfing down someone else's pizza like an invalid.

That wraps another day.  My cravings for sugar have been mild.  I've noticed that when I crave something sugary like a bite of my son's Pop Tart or just picking at snacks throughout the day, I'm not actually hungry.  I'm just salivating over the addictive flavors of food that's really not good for you.  It's definitely intriguing to me that I could sit down and eat an entire pizza but when I put a balanced meal on the table, I generally eat until I'm satisfied.  No more and no less.  I guess our bodies really were designed for fresh whole foods over food made with ingredients I can't pronounce.

I'm sure day three will smack me in the face and put me right back in my place.  They say you begin to feel flu like symptoms on day three.  Well, I'll give it a go.

Good night!

#21DSD ~ Day 1. “I didn’t open the Cheez-Its.”

Prior to starting this program I had been dabbling here and there with some sugar detox recipes that are, to be honest, way better than expected.  You could even call them satisfying and delicious.  The real gauge of a good meal is the husband’s reaction and surprisingly – or not so surprising – he enjoys a diet that consists of stir fry beef, meatballs and any other meaty and fatty protein we can conjure up.  We generally ignore the kids because if it’s not chicken nuggets and ketchup it won’t fly in their book.  We’ll work on them a little later.  After the kids initial reactions of “I don’t like this” and my response of “you haven’t even tasted it” we sit down to enjoy a meal that is completely satisfying in that “I don’t feel like secretly scarfing handfuls of Cheez-Its after this” way.

Here we go!

Day 1

Breakfast

The Green Smoothie

Last night while the kids were – unbeknownst to us – drawing on the wall in the family room, I buckled down to make a green smoothie.  Now you might be wondering “What makes it green?”  Answer:  Spinach and avocado.  Of course, the green apple and coconut milk work hard to add flavor and creaminess.  I love smoothies because I can drink them in the car on the way to work.  I also boiled a half dozen eggs last night for snacking and breakfast options.  Today, I chose to eat the hard-boiled egg for breakfast.  And because it’s Day 1, I treated myself to a Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Black, of course.  I sprinkled a little cinnamon in there because it adds a nice flavor but it also has some great health benefits like lowering cholesterol, regulating blood sugar as well as providing some key nutrients like manganese, fiber, iron and calcium.  It’s a great natural remedy.  Just google it.

Lunch

This was a quick and easy lunch solution since I didn't make dinner last night (I was on a crazy grocery trip buying up all the fruits and veggies and meat I could find).  It's prosciutto, Wholly Guacamole's 100 calorie pack of plain Guac and cucumber slices for dipping.  Like chips, except they aren't chips.  Rounding out the meal is a banana that looked green-tipped yesterday but now appears to be ripe.  (You can only eat green-tipped bananas on this diet as they are less sweet)

Snack

I usually break for a snack about mid-afternoon as I don't usually get dinner on the table until 7 p.m.  Without a snack I would definitely be one "Hangry" mama (Hungy +Angry = Hangry) by the time I greet my family in the evening.  Snack consisted of a handful of unsalted Almonds and a cup of my favorite "green juice."  I love Kale juice made with Granny Smith Apples.  It's just the right combo of sweet and tart with a hint of Kale.  I (when I say I, I mean my husband) likes to make Kale juice about twice a month.  That's about as often as I remember to buy the ingredients and my husband is willing to lug out the big juicer.  The kids even get a taster.  It's our very own juice bar.

Dinner

Meatza!  Basically Pizza without the crust.  The crust is just one big hamburger patty.  And let me tell you!  that was one good hamburger patty.  I spent all night cooking because I decided to make extra patties to freeze, plus leftovers for tomorrow's dinner.  I also spent the evening preparing lunch and breakfast for the next day with extra batches of breakfast to freeze for next week.  I'm hoping the late night tonight will pay off in the end.

Now that I'm deliriously tired and second-thinking this whole detox thing, I probably should sign off and go to bed.  More tomorrow.

#21DSD ~ Day 0

There are some people who will read this and think I’ve gone crazy overboard with all this nutrition babble.  And there are some people who will read this and think this sounds interesting and bookmark it as something to do in the future.  While others may think this is just the right time to begin making changes to their diet.  I’m writing this series of blog posts for this last group.  People who have been thinking and dabbling in learning more about nutrition and are looking for ways to jumpstart their path to better health and fitness.

It was June of last year when I began to feel convicted about nutrition and fitness.  I was hearing a lot about Paleo diets and was becoming very intrigued by the philosophy behind it all.  Throughout the summer I embarked on a fitness and nutrition plan that involved eating whole foods and working out 6 days a week (let’s be real, the 6 days was more like 4 or 5, but it still did the job).  If you’re curious, you can find the guide I was using on Amazon called the 30-day Method by Tracy Anderson.  The program kicked my butt.  In other words, it did the job right.

In the fall, I got started on a book called Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo.  I completed a 30-day program on a Paleo diet and then continued to dabble in it throughout the holidays.  When I look back on all the little menu plans and nutrition philosophies I was experimenting with it seems to be a bit schizophrenic, but I truly feel that all of this is simply helping me to identify the right way to model my nutrition for myself and my family.  I’ve become more skilled at putting together healthy meals and have even grown to enjoy steamed broccoli and mashed parsnips as a side.  I feel completely adept at identifying obscure vegetables and talking about the difference in cooking oils.  My fruit and veggie drawers in my fridge actually contain fruit and veggies rather than a six-pack of beer and extra diet cokes.  My husband continues to roll his eyes at me during my prolonged nutrition rants, but deep down he loves me for it.  Besides, he owes me for all the times I listen to him drone on and on about this car and that car and horsepower and torque and blah, blah, blah. 

So, now to the point of this post.  I’ve been feeling convicted about sugar and its effects on our body.  Sugar can drive the strongest of cravings and send us on an emotional rollercoaster when overdone.  Now before you start thinking this isn’t the plan for you because you don’t crave candy, start reading labels, you’ll discover sugar hiding in most of the foods you eat, from tomato and barbecue sauce to bread and French fries.  And it’s even more amazing how your body craves these foods for the sugar content.  The point of this program is to bring your taste for sugar down to a more healthy level where fruits begin to taste sweeter than before and your satisfied with a smaller portion of these foods.

I’m writing this out for you because it was the blogging of other nutritionists and people on similar journeys that helped me throughout my own journey and I would like to pay it forward.  So, every day for the next 21 days of my detox I will be blogging.  If you are interested in what I’m eating, how I’m feeling and how the program is working, then please follow this blog.  I have found reading blogs to be motivating, inspiring and encouraging for those who are interested in pursuing a similar program.  If you find all of this self-talk to be annoying and you believe that I love to just talk about myself (I do) and I’m too obsessed with nutrition (I am) then feel free to pass on this one.  I completely understand. 

Somehow, I’ve convinced my kind and loving husband to complete this detox with me.  Two is always better than one.  To complete a program like this, you’re going to need the support of others.  The book and recipes I am using are from Diane Sanfilippo.  You can learn more about her program on her website Balanced Bites.

Essentials for a Woman in a House Full of Boys

Yesterday I found myself hosing red clay-like mud off of the boys’ clothes.  And when I refer to the boys, please know that my hubby, while he is in his 30’s, is still one of the boys.  We’ve been going through a sort of transition in the Gunden household.  It’s been coming on for weeks now, but really just hit me yesterday as I stood in amazement at the mud-caked clothes and the thoroughness in which all three of my boys had soiled these articles.  I realized that there are some essential tools needed to be a woman in a house full of boys.

#1  Learn to walk away.  Just walk away.

When you step out the back door to find your boys playing in a pile of mulch and dumping water from the dog bowls on each other while sporting their brand new shoes, just turn right around.  Go back in the house.  There’s no need to do a double-take and check for adult supervision because Daddy is there.  He’s been there the whole time.  He probably even helped them turn on the spicket.  It’s best just to pretend it’s not happening.  Oh…and it’s probably best not to buy nice shoes for your boys.  When faced with the task of washing or tossing.  You’re going to want to toss.  Trust me on this.

#2  When out for a girls night, there’s a two drink minimum.

When you get home from your girls night out you’re going to want be on the tipsy side.  That way, when you happen upon a pile of mud-caked clothes and a Facebook picture of the boys drenched from head to toe in red, clay-like mud you will laugh out loud versus the exhausted yelling and snarkiness of a tired mommy.  This is a much preferred alternative to haranguing your husband for letting things get out of control.  By the way, your husband will not believe things were “out of control” because “this is what boys do.” 

#3  No White Shirts

Does this even need an explanation?  See #2 above.

#4  Whatever you do, don’t smell it.

The other evening my sweet, sweet Taylor turned to me and asked me to smell his hand.   It smelled pretty rank, I have to admit.  So I told him so.  He giggled with excitement as he stuck his hand down the back of his pants (for what I now believe was the second time) so he could bring some “fresh” scents out for the smelling. 

#5  Study up on your super heroes….and wear a helmet if you can.

The boys love to pretend play these days.  “Mommy, you be bad guy and me be good guy and I’m going to get you.  Roar!”  One misstep.  One word not said right and I get “Mommy you not doing it wight.”  And one word of warning, they may be three but they pack a huge punch.  If they get you, make sure you protect the important areas:  head, face and hair.  They still haven’t grasped the fact that Mommy is fragile and doesn’t like recreating WWF scenarios.

#6  Always stop for tractors.

If you drive by a tractor, you most definitely will be asked to “Do it again, Mommy.  Do it again.”  If you don’t, the screaming will commence and is sure to continue until you serendipitously encounter another tractor.  “My want to see tractor again!  Again Mommy!!”  The only cure to this madness is to pull over and let them fully inspect the wonderment of these yellow, mechanical beasts.  They’re going to want to climb on it, drive in it and pee on it.  Complete this circuit and you will have two very happy boys.

#7  Love on them often

While boys may be rough and tumble, they’re still our little sweethearts.  Tell them this daily.  Heck, tell it to them every time the thought crosses your mind.  They are still your little babes and your love still means the world to them.  I know this because every once in a while, out of the blue, my little ones say “I wuv you, Mommy” and it melts my heart.