Day 18 - A Happy Easter!

Today is Easter, and Nick and I didn't eat a single jelly bean, we didn't eat a marshmallow Peep, or a Cadbury Creme Egg, but that's not what Easter is all about anyway!

We spent the morning and afternoon with some of Nick's family. We went to his parents' church and heard them sing in the choir for their Easter Cantata. Then we all had lunch together!

I will say we were close to declining the invitation to be with family today due to our detox. We didn't want to be a burden on anyone, but we also didn't want to cheat on our commitment to this 30-day program. When Nick's parents said they were willing to 'jump through the hoops' in having food we could eat, we were more than willing to accept their invitation to join them today on Easter Sunday! 

It is so nice when not only your spouse or immediate family is supportive of your decision to try to live a healthier lifestyle and lose weight, but when your extended family is also supportive of your goals and sensitive to your needs...wow!

I thought it was so sweet when Nick's mom texted me and asked for a copy of our detox program so she could make sure the food she would be preparing for today would fall under the guidelines we've been following! And as we were filling our plates at lunch today, she assured us that there was no sugar (or other ingredients we've been avoiding) in the seasonings and dishes that were before us. We had grilled chicken, a veggie stir fry, sweet potatoes, and fruit.

There were rolls and butter and dessert, but no one flashed it in front of our faces or taunted us for not having any. It did look delicious, but it was so easy to pass up when surrounded by an understanding family who is on our side! So I just want to say THANK YOU to all of them for making our Easter Sunday a relaxing and enjoyable one! 

Only 12 more days of detox, baby! And with such a great support team, I have no doubt we will see the rest of this detox through! 

Day 17 - Jambalaya Disaster!

Really the only 'exciting' detox-related part of the day was late this afternoon and this evening when dinner turned into a disaster!

I could talk about the wonderful time we had with Isaac at the park, how he loved swinging, going down the slides, and how he tried eating the playground sand for the first time...

But you know, fun at the park could be an exciting part of any normal day!















Hopefully, the process of making dinner won't start becoming as 'exciting' as it was tonight...

I had in mind to try a new recipe tonight for dinner: Turkey Jambalaya!

It sounded delish and it didn't look too hard to make. Reading the recipe, I saw that it called for uncooked long grain rice. Since I've had a few meals flop in the past due to not cooking the rice beforehand, I thought I would go ahead and cook it up at the same time we were eating lunch. I thought, 'This will ensure that the rice will get tender through and dinner won't take as long as the recipe says if the rice is already cooked.' 

However, Nick overheard me talking to myself about cooking up the rice beforehand and he convinced me that it would be best to just follow the recipe...'OK....'

So I looked at the recipe and counted back to figure out when I needed to put dinner on so we could eat in time. After I got the dish all together on the stovetop, boiled it, and turned it down to simmer for 40-45 minutes, I decided to take another look at the recipe and read some reviews.

It wasn't long before I began to worry about our dinner and fearing that it wouldn't turn out since I read several reviews about the rice not getting tender. I even read that someone said they should have cooked the rice beforehand! Oh dear!

Let's just say, we had the same problem! Oh man! I kept tasting it every so often and the rice was STILL crunchy! I was so frustrated! Nick and I were both getting very grumpy because we were hungry. We munched on fruit. We fed Isaac. We played with Isaac. We bathed Isaac and put him to bed.

FINALLY, the rice was just tender enough to eat. The Turkey Jambalaya had delicious flavor! But it had taken OVER 2 HOURS to cook! That's it! Next time I'm cooking the rice up separately beforehand! And next time Nick said I should listen to my own instinct since I 'have more experience.' Thank you very much! Live and learn! At least it tasted good even if some of the rice still had a little crunch to it...

And our tummies are happy now! Hopefully the rest of the evening will go a little more smoothly...

Day 16 - On the downhill!

It was so nice for Nick to have the day off work today! Our plan was to get up and go to the Y together which would have been awesome since we don't get to go together much. But that didn't end up happening since we didn't set an alarm, Nick had a late night out playing games with some friends, Isaac had a rough time falling asleep, and we all slept in a bit this morning.

So instead, we took it easy. I got a nice long nap while Isaac took one as well. We had lunch, then we went shopping as a family! I tried on a couple pair of pants and it always frustrates me when I'm in between sizes! BOOO! Oh well! Hopefully that will change soon...

We had to cut our shopping short since I planned to go running with a friend. It was the first time I'd run outdoors on the road and sidewalks since Thanksgiving last year! We did a 3 mile loop and did it in just over 34 minutes. Not bad especially considering we walked a bit. AND we had some HUGE hills! I'm really proud of  us for getting out there and doing it!

Nick helped get everything prepped for dinner tonight, and we had omelets! Yum!

Day 15 - HALF WAY!

I see myself standing on top of a mountain right now. I've made the climb up! Now to begin the trek down!

If you've ever hiked a mountain before, you know different muscles are used when you hike down versus when you climbed up. You meet different challenges along the way, and, in my opinion, it's a lot easier to fall when you're going down. Not only is gravity working against you, but you're already tired from the climb up!

On top of the mountain, you're ecstatic that you made it this far - the half way point - and you tell yourself going back down will be a piece of cake! But when you start going down hill, sooner or later you learn it's not as easy as you were thinking it'd be.

I'm thrilled to be half way through our detox program! This is when it should be easy, right? I don't want to give up now because I see the end of the trail at the bottom of the hill! But...I am ready to be done.

Total weight loss for me = 7 lbs
Total weight loss for Nick = 9 lbs

If that's not exciting, I don't know what is! Our clothes are beginning to feel more loose. We feel good!

However, today wasn't a super exciting day. I found a few new recipes for us to try, and I had to go to the grocery store again. We've just been eating so much food! It's hard to keep the fridge stocked! And I was pretty discouraged when I saw how hard all our grocery shopping has been hitting the budget lately... I try to shop sales, but it still adds up really quick!

I think part of the issue is we've been eating our leftovers for lunches while we've been detoxing. Before, we would have a simple sandwich for lunch and use our leftovers for a second dinner. Another thing is that I've bought new spices and cooking oils since we don't have the flexibility to just buy a pre-made marinade for grilling chicken (as most of them have either vinegar, soy, or sugar). So that's a pretty penny too. At least I know we'll use all of this stuff even after we've finished the detox!

Nick made the comment, I think it was last night, that we're probably going to go crazy with eating out after we've completed our detox. I hope not! But honestly, after cooking almost every day for 30 days, I think I'll just be in the habit of it and we'll continue to eat at home mostly...hopefully! Also, I'll have a slew of healthy recipes up my sleeve that I've made and know we like!

Yeah, I may enjoy an ice cream cone every now and then, but already I feel more aware and educated about what is going into my body. And I kinda wonder if that first ice cream cone or cup of coffee after the detox will be mentally challenging for me to actually consume since I haven't had anything like that for what already feels like a VERY long time.

Well, here's to being half way done! 15 more days to go...

Day 14 = Week 2 Completed!

I was very tempted to stay home from the Y this morning, but I'm glad I didn't because I was able to accomplish one of my goals! The two weeks prior to us beginning our detox, I didn't exercise at all partly due to allergies and not feeling well and partly because we took a trip to Kansas.

I had been running 3 miles in just over 30 minutes before I took that two week break. When we came back from our trip and I finally got back to the gym, I was really discouraged that I 'couldn't' run the full 3 miles in a stretch. The most I felt I could run was about a mile. Then I'd end up walking, then run just a little more, then walk, then run a bit...well, you get the picture.

So today I was determined to run at least 2 miles before walking although I really desired to just tough it out and run the full 3. I had been running at a little faster pace than I'm used to and maybe that's why I was struggling so much to squeak out a mile before I was ready to give up, so today I slowed my pace down just by a hair.

And, would you believe, as my sister would say, "I just killed you, 3 mile run, in 31 minutes!" YEAH! Was it because I haven't had bad allergies the last couple days? Was it because I was on my 'lucky treadmill' at the Y? Was it because I was listening to the good ol' OC Supertones instead of Toby Mac today? Or was it because I had stronger will power today? It wasn't easy. I wanted to give up at a mile and a half, 2 miles, 2 and a half miles and so forth, but I kept telling myself things like, 'You've done this before,' 'Just get to the next half mile marker,' 'You will be so proud of yourself to be back on track and running 3 miles,' 'You'll be disappointed in yourself if you give up now,' etc. I  did say a little prayer as I started out, so now I'd like to thank the Lord for his help in accomplishing this goal! Whooohooo! I'm back, baby!

So after the treadmill, I biked for about 15 minutes which was all I really had time for before I needed to pick up Isaac from the child watch. We came home, baby napped, then we had lunch. After lunch, since I obviously hadn't exercised enough today already, Isaac and I joined a couple of friends for a late afternoon hike in Ute Valley. We hiked 3 miles in an hour which isn't bad especially when you're carrying a 20+ pound pack on your back!

We got home just 15 minutes or so before Nick arrived home from work, so we threw a taco salad together for dinner - DELISH! Got the baby bathed and in bed, and now it's time to relax! Can hardly believe tomorrow is the HALFWAY MARKER for our detox! Wow!

Day 13 - Leftovers

Sometimes it's just really nice to have leftovers for dinner. Cooking sometimes takes more energy than I have to offer! We had several big meals in a row this past weekend that gave us multiple leftovers that we hadn't used as of today. So tonight was leftovers for dinner night!

When our detox first began, I thought a week's worth of different meals would be sufficient and we'd just repeat with the same menu every week. But after 2 weeks, it's starting to get old since we usually have for lunch what we had the evening before for dinner. So I now need to look up some more recipes and get creative once again!

We've had some AMAZING meals, but when you have a meal over and over again just because you're comfortable making it and you've fallen into the pattern that this is 'good enough'  it loses a little bit of it's amazing-ness. 

In the past, if I made a meal that was a complete 'flop,' we'd order pizza or throw the dish out and go out to eat. It didn't happen often, but that was our back up plan. Being on the detox, however, is making me more hesitant and cautious about cooking things that might not turn out. I know we could still go out to eat as our backup, but I don't want to force us to make that decision. I personally don't want to go into a restaurant and face the big temptation to order foods I'm not suppose to have. 

Yes, I still do desire to eat pancakes with syrup and donuts and coffee, but it's not as BIG of a desire as it used to be. It's funny how your cravings change throughout the course of being on a detox. At first I was craving chocolate and donuts, but now I would just like a little bit of creamy salad dressing for my salads or a cup of iced BLACK tea instead of green or herbal. And yes, unsweet, would be perfectly fine! I would still like a Starbucks latte, but soda doesn't really tempt me anymore (at least not now). A cookie? Yes, maybe just a bite though. Butter and cheese sounds more appealing to me than sweets. 

We're so close to halfway! I know we're going to finish this thing out strong! Now to find some new recipes...

Day 12 - Grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte, please!

From the moment I woke up and saw Facebook this morning, I was disturbed. I can't even put well into words the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head all day due to the outburst and blatant opposition toward Starbucks I've been seeing on the internet today. I would like to ask you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, how condemning Starbucks so openly about their stance on same sex marriage shows Christ's love to them? How does boycotting them and turning our back on them share the gospel with them?


And can we really point a finger at them and condemn them for not living up to our Biblical standards while they may not have the same foundation we have, that is Christ Jesus? What would Jesus do, I ask you? When He came to earth, who was He more often condemning? It was those Pharisees and Teachers of the Law who were righteous in their own eyes! Did Jesus refuse to heal those who were sinners? No! Instead, He healed them and said, "Go and sin no more!"


I think we all need a refresher of the New Testament, myself included. 1 Peter 2:11-12 says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."


Luke 6:32-36 says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."


How are we different from the rest of the world if we turn our backs on those who have differing beliefs from our's? How are we showing mercy to Starbucks by no longer giving them our business because the do not hold to the same beliefs as us? Are we also going to strongly encourage our Christian friends (and I have more than one) who are employed by Starbucks to get new jobs? No way!


My heart just aches to hear all the judgmental statements coming out so publicly from Christian friends over the internet. Please, I appeal to you, let's enjoy a Starbucks coffee together and love people to Christ! I do not want to come across as judging or condemning any Christians who have publicly stated they will no longer give Starbucks their business. That is not my intention! I do, however, want to ask every believer to (and to remind myself as well) to think before we speak and to consider how we can best be a witness for Christ.


These are the things on my heart today, and I am sorry if my thoughts were fragmented.


Nick and I are refraining from coffee for another 18 days. Otherwise, we would have gladly gone to Starbucks this evening and enjoyed their service. We would have gone there for tea instead, but since the baby is already in bed and we have an assortment of herbal and green Tazo teas here at the house, we'll just enjoy a cup at home tonight.

Day 11 - Food

It may be easier to stick to the detox now that we're about a third of the way through the program, but ordering a pizza for take out or deliver still sounds very appealing on Sundays! We ended up getting Chipotle to go for lunch today which was great! But I still had to think about dinner tonight... 

So dinner consisted of leftover lemon basil chicken, sauteed garlic asparagus, and roasted herb sweet potatoes.

I know we could eat out really as much as we want, but we're trying to get more out of this detox than just cleaning our organs and bodies out. We're trying to learn to eat at home more and cook healthy meals. I'm hoping by the end of the 30 days, we'll be so used to eating at home that we won't get back into the habit of eating out every other day. We run our dishwasher every day now, and we used to run it every couple of days before we began the detox. 

It still seems like I'm in the kitchen a good part of the day. I don't mind it as much anymore, but it will be nice to go out to eat after we've finished the detox and not have to worry about just ordering a salad or trying to find something on the menu we can have. Nick mentioned (I think it was last night) that he is really craving a juicy hamburger from Red Robin! Mmmm.... I know we both desire to live a healthier lifestyle in general and this detox is giving us a greater awareness of what that means, but we do plan on getting an occasional burger or pizza when we've finished detoxifying ourselves! Looking forward to that day! 

We've got 19 days left...that's all?! Hard to believe! We're not ready to quit now! We plan to see this thing through to the end and it'll be over before we even know it! Not only is it good for our bodies, but it's good for our minds! 

Day 10 - Unmet Expectations

Several years ago, Nick and I made an important discovery! We discovered that we often face disappointment and frustration when we have expectations about something and those expectations aren't met. And in our frustration about those expectations not being met, we would often take our anger out on each other rather than address the core issue of feeling like we had been let down.

For instance, as the evening or weekend would draw near, Nick would have planned out how he wanted to spend his time, and I would have planned out how I would want to spend my (or our) time. If our plans didn't pan out, it would really set us off and then we'd start arguing and trying to find fault with the other person. Well, we finally figured out that our issue (in this case) was more from lack of communication on our part than it was with the actual person. So now we often communicate with one another when we're headed into the evening or a weekend. Nick will Skype me or call me as he's about to come home from work (or I will call him), and he'll ask, "What are your expectations for tonight?" I'll tell him, then I usually follow up: "Do you have any plans or expectations for tonight?" Then we agree on a plan of action for that evening.

And can you believe asking that simple question has really prevented a lot of head ache and frustration for the both of us? Because we clearly communicate our desires with each other, it gives us realistic expectations that are usually met and we're rarely let down because of it.

Now the unmet expectations we often struggle with are those expectations that go unmet because of something we have no control over! Take today for example...

Although I had a severe time with my allergies yesterday (and therefore didn't go to Y), I still had it strongly in my mind that I wanted to go to the gym and run today. I took a Benadryl last night, and so I slept well. But I woke up even more miserable than I felt the day before. Also, when I looked outside, I saw that there was a white fluffy layer of snow covering the roads, grass, and sidewalks. So I decided I would just stay home and do a DVD workout when Isaac went down for his nap. When that time came around, I was feeling very tired myself so Nick suggested I just rest. 'Ok...' I thought, 'I'll rest now, and then workout after lunch...' Well, you know that didn't happen! So I was pretty disappointed I didn't get a workout in today. But you know in hindsight, I'm really glad I didn't push my body by doing a workout. If I had, I probably wouldn't be feeling as good as I feel now! So now I'm hoping whatever head congestion (from allergies or a cold) I have is on it's way out!

Also, Nick and I were originally going to go to the gym together this morning. But because we're trying to sell our Pathfinder and that's a priority, it turned out Nick had a couple people that wanted to come by this morning and see it. In fact, someone came by last night and said he wanted it but couldn't get the money to us until today. Nick told him he'd still like to hear what the others were going to offer this morning, and the man said he'd pay so much more than the highest offer up to a certain amount. So we were totally expecting to have our truck sold by this weekend. Was it the weather or just a loss of interest in the vehicle? We don't know. But we never heard from the people who wanted to come see the Pathfinder today. And the guy who came by last night and said he wanted it contacted Nick this morning and said he had changed his mind. Another let down... Darn!

So here's a plug: our Pathfinder's still up on craigslist if anyone is interested!

Now about those unmet expectations... yeah, it's disappointing! But are we going to dwell on it and let it keep us down, are we going to not set such 'high' expectations anymore or none at all so we won't be let down again, or are we going to look forward to tomorrow - another day - and trust in the Lord that it will be better? And in light of eternity, do these unmet expectations really matter? Should I be dreaming bigger than just the day to day? Should I be setting my expectations on things that will impact eternity for the good of God's Kingdom? And why do the 'little' things matter so much to me?

Lord, help me focus on the things that matter!

Day 9 - Shopping

It's never a good feeling when you wake up in the morning and think, 'Do I have enough food in the house to get us through the day?' Yikes! Especially on a detox, you truly do have to be prepared. If you can stay on top of grocery shopping and meal planning, it's pretty easy. If you can't, well, then you're creating more of a challenge for yourself than you should have to face.

I'm always thinking about the next meal, but I also try to think of the next couple days worth of meals. I'd like to sit down and right out a week's worth of meals at a time, but I just haven't taken the time to do that. So thinking about the next few days' meals seems to be working out just fine for now. 

I'm really glad breakfast is taken care of with our protein shakes! It's one meal I never have to worry about (as long as I have almond milk, berries, spinach, and other things to mix in with it constantly on hand)! And as far as lunches go, we just try to make enough for dinner the night before so we can have the leftovers the next day. Seems to be working out just fine! So it's really only dinners I have to think about, and that makes life on a detox so much easier! 

Because we were getting low on fruit and veggies and a few other things, today was grocery shopping day!

We had never shopped at Sprouts until we began our detox program, and now it's one of our favorite places to shop! They have such a great variety of organic and non-organic veggies, fruits, and meats, and the store is organized very well! 

And here's my little helper, holding onto one of his favorite fruits as we make our way to the car!

While we were out, we stopped by Target to get a few things including a new water bottle for Isaac that was like Mommy's. He loves my water bottle so much, so I thought it was time for him to have his own!

After Isaac woke up from his afternoon nap, I let him try it out. He loved it! He especially likes chewing on the sippy spout!

Then it was time for dinner, and this is what the protein part of our dinner looked like for tonight:

Lemon Basil Chicken

When I realized it was snowing after dinner and saw that the weekend is suppose to be yucky weather-wise, I was so glad I got my shopping done today! Now we can rest awhile knowing there are plenty of delicious healthy food choices in the house for the time-being! 

Day 8 - Not alone!

Nothing much different from yesterday except that I'm reminded how grateful I am to have Nick doing this with me. If you're in a relationship, it's so much easier to face something like a 30-day detox when you do it together as a couple! You can relate with and sympathize with each other, you can make jokes and laugh about it together, you can cry together, and you can celebrate your victories together!

My total weight loss is 4 lbs so far and Nick has lost 6 lbs! Yay us!

Last week I was reading in the book of Matthew, and I've been meditating on chapter 4, verses 1-2, off and on ever since:

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry."

Wow...the first thought that popped into my head was, 'If Jesus, being human and led by the Spirit, can fast for 40 days and nights and say no to temptation, I should at least be able to fast from certain foods for 30 days with the Spirit's help!' And praise God for his grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in weakness!

Day 7 = Week 1 complete!

Can't believe we've already completed our first full week on the detox! Hoping it's all downhill from here! Other than those first few days, it really hasn't been as bad as I thought it'd be. I can't say I no longer crave certain sugary foods and other things I'm not suppose to have, but the craving isn't quite as intense now. 

Since Isaac had a runny nose and some congestion this morning, I didn't take him with me to the Y. Instead, he played while I did a 40 min. DVD workout. Then he took a 2 hour nap! Boy was I productive during that time!

I found 2 new recipes that we tried out for dinner. One was for baked sweet potatoes, and it didn't call for brown sugar! The other recipe was a dry rub for grilled chicken (or steak or fish). And when I say delish - it was super DELISH! Nick and I agreed it was easily the tastiest grilled chicken we've ever made, and that's saying something! 

We also enjoyed our sweet potatoes and lots of veggies!

After we got Isaac to bed, I headed to the Y. I really wanted to get a good run in today. 

I started out  and easily ran a mile, then all a sudden I was feeling really out of breath. So I walked another mile. Still out of breath, I decided to try the bike. Then after about 15 minutes of that, I stretched out a little and came home. When I walked in the door, I was wheezing pretty good (and I don't wheeze often)! Nick heard it in my voice and gave me some breathing tips, and I'm feeling better now. Just coughing a bit. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get a 3-mile run in. But I know to listen to my body when I'm working out. Maybe by mid-next week, I'll be back to running 3 miles hopefully!

Day 6 - The New Normal

Today felt almost normal! Went to women's group this morning at church. There's always a spread of food! Normally I would just put on my plate whatever looked good to me that day, but today I didn't. In fact, I didn't even go through the line to see what food was there until a couple friends told me there was some fresh fruit, and I should at least get that. So I had a little bunch of grapes and a clementine. Yum! You know, I didn't even really miss all that other stuff. Although...those donuts did look good!

These were the plates of some friends who were sitting around me, and it didn't really bother me. If I had faced all this food on Day 1, 2, or 3, I think I would have really struggled! But I'm kinda getting used to avoiding sugar and gluten by now.

And it really felt just like a normal Tuesday other than not eating a donut! Isaac and I met Nick for lunch at Chipotle, then we headed to Costco to pick up a few things. We came home and I browned 6 lbs of ground Turkey - most for the freezer. That along with the chicken breasts I got pretty much sets us up for the rest of the 30 days as far as meat goes!

Hoping for a good night's sleep tonight! Last night was a rough night for Isaac. He woke up screaming just before midnight and sounded like he was in such agony from teething. Really hoping he sleeps well tonight because it's back to the Y for us tomorrow morning! Not sure what I'll do if we don't get the sleep we need...

Day 5 - On the right track!

Another day down! We all got a great night sleep last night, praise God! And it felt GOOD to get back to the gym this morning. Not my best-ever workout, but I was proud of myself for putting forth the effort to get back into the groove! My running shoes are my good friends. :)

Feelin' good!

After a nice hot shower, I enjoyed some hot tea while I worked on a crochet project. :)

After lunch (leftover stir fry!), Isaac and I got ready to go for a walk...

...but even though the sun was shining brightly, we only made it to the end of the block before turning around and coming back home. It was too windy which meant it was too cold!

So we played in the house instead! 

(Took a little video and tried to upload it, but after trying multiple times and it not working, I gave up. So, I'll try to load it to my Facebook page.) 

All in all, I really didn't think about the detox too much today. The munchkin has been in bed for over half hour now. I just finished folding the last of the laundry, and now I'm ready to spend the rest of the evening with another hot cup of tea some reading and crocheting. Yay for a good day!

Day 4 - Encouraged!

Today was a much better day! It really made my day when I stepped on the scale and saw that I am 3 lbs lighter today than I was 4 days ago on Day 1 of our detox. Yay! I haven't seen that number since just before Thanksgiving. Boy...did it take me a LONG time to work off that turkey and pumpkin pie! Ha ha...

We had our berry protein shakes for breakfast then headed out for church.

Between services, a friend stopped me in the church fellowship lobby area and said, "I just have to tell you. Rachel, you are looking AMAZING!" Wow - could my day get any better?! 

And then we had a chat with our coach, Jessica, before we left to come home from church. She said that we really can eat out on this detox and that more restaurants these days have gluten-free options available. Yay! But oh dear...maybe we won't be saving any money on eating out now... But really, I think we are going to try to eat at home as much as possible. However, it's tradition for us to eat lunch as a family on Tuesdays (after my women's Bible study at church), so Chipotle - here we come! 

Anyway, we all got a nap on this Sunday afternoon, and I think that helped put us all in a good mood! Isaac didn't have a great night last night and he's been extremely fussy lately. We think his top front teeth are finally getting close to breaking through. Lord, help us! 

We had chicken and veggie stir fry for dinner with quinoa - Yum! Here's to a wonderful Day 4! Looking forward to getting back into the routine of going to the gym starting tomorrow morning! Just hoping we all sleep well tonight! 

Day 3 - Exhausted

Darn you Detox Day 3! No one warned me about you!

I woke up VERY HUNGRY!

We had our protein shakes for breakfast.

I planned lunch.

I cooked lunch.

We ate lunch.

I planned dinner.

I cooked dinner.

We ate dinner.

...And that was Day 3.

I feel like I'm in the kitchen all the time now. I'm tired. I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, but I don't enjoy not having any time for anything else. I've tried at least 6 new recipes over the last 3 days...

You're right. I am exaggerating when I say I haven't had time for anything else. It's just that I want to help Nick and myself be as successful as possible with this whole detox thing that I am having a hard time focusing on anything else but that. We have so many more dishes to wash since cooking so much at home.

Tonight, we went car seat shopping as Isaac is getting close to out growing the baby carrier he still rides in. And tonight Nick and I agreed that we would have totally eaten out tonight had it not been for this detox. So instead, we ate dinner, then went out. It worked out well enough, but it required planning ahead and making sure we ate on time so we would have time to go shopping before it got too late.

And at dinner time, I realized that I needed to make another trip to the grocery store soon. Nick already went out for me twice today. Thank goodness it's a Saturday!

I'm hoping that after I've made a few more 'detox-friendly' meals, it will be real easy to meal plan for the rest of the 30 days. We'll just rotate through all the tasty meals we've already enjoyed...and then our time will be up and I can enjoy that cookie I wanted tonight, that cupcake, and that Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel with a Starbucks caramel macchiato...Hmmm....

I was feeling really depressed when we were driving home without our new car seat and thinking of all the stuff left undone at home that keeps building up that I keep meaning to do and haven't had time for yet. Nick said, "You stress eat, don't you?" Why yes, Nick, I do! And he tells me that's probably why I haven't lost much weight recently. It's true. I'm learning just how much I use food to cheer me up. And I happen to like it when food cheers me up! I just can't have any of my usual foods that cheer me up tonight. Bummer! I'm bummed out.

Day 3 is just a tough time. It hasn't been long enough (at least for me) to see any weight or inches dropping off yet. And I'm so worn out from all the cooking and planning - making sure I have all the ingredients I need and making sure I start preparing meals in far enough advance so we can eat on time and planning all my other activities around meal time. I sure hope this pays off!

Detox Day 2

Although yesterday was a successful first day of detoxifying for both Nick and me, it wasn't without it's challenges. Nick came home tired from work, hungry, and a bit annoyed that he, in his own words, "had to turn down doughnuts, apple pie, cherry pie, chocolate cake, turkish delights (from Turkey nonethless), and free Starbucks coffee" on his very first day of the detox. 

I knew it'd be best for us to eat dinner as close to 5 PM as possible (about the same time Nick gets home from work) to keep us from snacking before dinner (another 'no-no' if we want to lose weight). So I did my part to get the chicken marinating in a homemade marinade and homemade salsa ready for a new detox-friendly recipe: 'Grilled Chicken Ole.' It was a beautiful day with the sun brightly shining all day yesterday - the perfect evening for grilling! Nick is the one who does the grilling around here, so I let him know before he left to come home from work that I would like him to help with dinner by doing the grilling part.


When he arrived at home, he informed me that some friends were going to drop by for a few minutes. So our dinner plans were pushed off just a bit. Our friends came and went, and we were all ready to put the chicken on the grill until Nick realized we were out of propane. :( Fortunately, we have a George Foreman (our back up plan)! But...we couldn't find the grease-catcher tray. Ugh! Dinner was turning into a bigger ordeal than we had planned! We were both tired and grumpy with hunger, and it didn't help that Isaac was finished with his meal and he was squealing for attention. We improvised as best we could and got dinner on the table. It turned out pretty tasty, and as our tummies got full our attitudes seemed to improve. Day 1 - complete!

Today hasn't been quite as full of a day as yesterday. I was glad we had just enough leftover from dinner last night that Nick and I could have it for our lunches today.

In a nutshell, these are the ingredients we're suppose to eliminate from our diet for the next 30 days:


Wheat/Gluten
Yeast
Dairy
Sugar
Alcohol
Vinegar
Coffee
Soy


So I've been facing my own trials and temptations whenever I make a grilled cheese sandwich for Isaac's lunch or give him crackers to munch on for a snack. Grilled cheese isn't something I normally crave, but I seem to really desire it when I'm told I can't have it. Hmm...Mental battle? I think so! I have to say no to temptation every time I have a slice of cheese in my hands that I am breaking into pieces for Isaac to eat. I have to say NO to the urge to lick a bit of butter or yogurt off my fingers when preparing a meal for Isaac.


Just before lunch today, I was craving Fritos. Of course, we don't currently have Fritos in our house, and I would need to look at the ingredients before hastily indulging in them anyway. So I decided to try my hand at making my own baked corn chips. I found a recipe online. It was really simple and they turned out delicious! They came out of the oven right in time to go with my lunch. Even though these chips may be a healthier alternative to pre-packaged chips, I still had to be careful to eat them in moderation. So I had a few with lunch, and I will enjoy a few more with Nick around dinner time. 

Hopefully, Nick had a better day at work today. I know we've both had a bit of a headache today despite all the water we've been drinking. It's probably due to lack of caffeine... But hopefully each day will get a little easier. As Day 2 comes to an end, I am feeling empowered to make it through these next 28 days without giving in to cravings/temptations! I know some days will be better and easier than others. I'm just taking 1 day at a time, 1 meal at a time. 

Detox or Die!

Today was Day 1 of a 30-day Detox Program by Arbonne in which Nick and I decided to participate. For a while, we've both been trying to lose weight, and despite consistent workouts at the gym, hiking, snowshoeing, and trying to cut back on sugar and junk food, we still haven't dropped the pounds!

So, we're detoxing! There are many reasons we decided to try this particular detox program. Here's a few...

I've had a number of friends who have tried it, and they say it makes them feel so much better and healthier and they've lost  pounds and inches as a result. Detoxing seems to be more about what you aren't eating than what you are eating. There is a list of processed, allergenic, and addictive foods to avoid while at the same time focusing on having a balanced and nutritious meal plan. It's like you're giving your digestive system a break while also allowing it to clean itself out so it can handle what you put into it better. Since the detox program focuses so much on nutrition, I am really excited about learning more about healthy eating habits and how the body processes different foods. And I'm looking forward to forming some healthier eating habits, having more energy, and hopefully even losing some fat and inches through the process. I'm also looking forward to learning to cook some new and healthier meals!

It's been a long road for me and my little family over the last few years, and although my house seems to be in pretty good order, I'm ready to get to my physical body (which is a temple of the Spirit) back into some order. Preparing for this detox program was a bit rough since we went out of town and just got back last night. I had to clean out my pantry and fridge before we left town (boxed up all the tempations!), and today I had to run out to the grocery store to stock up on all sorts of fresh fruit and veggies and to be able to cook a good meal tonight for dinner.

 Detox Day 1 = SUCCESS!

Stay tuned to follow this 30 day journey with Nick and me.