Only the beginning

Over the course of this short lived blog, I have been trying to become a healthier, more conscious, person about the food I am fixing for my family and myself. I am proud of these things and all that I have accomplished in our household. But there are still a few things that I was not happy with. My weight loss is slow, like S.U.P.E.R slow. Slow is good when it comes to weight loss but 1oz a week is not slow, that is down right turtle's pace. More importantly I was still feeling really bad. Define bad...well I was still very lathargic (even with working out for an hour everyday), still very depressed, and still feeling very old and stiff , especially that darn knee of mine. I could chalk all of those up to it being winter, cold, and the pressure in the atmosphere going crazy but that just didn't seem ok to me. You mean to tell me every winter this is how its going to be?! No way!!
During one of my movie nights while Ryan was away I watched a movie called Forks over Knives. Every food documentary I watch changes our or my thought process of food and eating, so I was prepared to take notes so that I could do a little more research when the movie was done. This movie goes through a few individuals that go totally plant based with their diets in order to combat heart disease and other problems/illnesses. It is focused on two dr's and their research in the field of plant based diets reversing such illnesses as cancer, heart disease, and obesity. It is a very informative movie and I enjoyed it. My favorite quote kept coming to mind and it is the main theme of this movie.

 Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” ― Hippocrates

 After watching it, I thought about trying to go no meat and no dairy. We were already going meatless for 3 nights a week anyway and fish was another night. So for me (only me for right now) to try this wasn't a huge leap. If I was totally honest, meat is not as much of a draw on a normal basis. I love smoking ribs and occasionally baking a chicken in the oven with all those yuumy flavors and herbs that go along with it, will still happen. But for the most part, meat is just a side. About this same time I got my Whole Living magazine for the month. Inside was a 3 week, reboot your body, meal plan. Most of the meals were veggie based with some fish thrown in toward the end of week 2 and 3. What the heck, why not. I have no reason to not. I have a plan, I already was eating all raw veggies and fruits except for dinner. So this is my start to making my food nourish my body and my soul.  So far it hasn't been too much extra work, in regards to cooking two seperate meals each night.

I wanted to document my journey down this path to see and be able to look back at my journey. Many people have done the same and say they haven't gone back, it will be interesting to see where I stand in a few months or weeks. I am interested to see how my physical bloodwork turns out in March, this is kind of a goal I am hoping to get to. I want to see how much weight I lose and how much better I feel by this milestone.

So here we go...this is what I ate yesterday....
Breakfast was a serving of steel cut oats with about 10 blueberries and some brown rice syrup drizzled on top
Cup of coffee with coconut milk as the creamer


Lunch was sweet potato and lentil soup - this is a super hearty and sweet soup, plus it makes quite a bit
A couple glasses of water


Midafternoon Shake
Handful of spinach, 1/2 banana, about 10 blueberries, 1/5 of a pineapple, handful of mint, splash of coconut milk, and a tsp of spirulina


I noticed a couple weeks ago I get really hungry around 4:00pm....not sure why. This is when I normally eat things I don't want to eat, that don't help control that hunger, that I always end of regretting eating. So I found a recipe for DIY Kind bars. They are fabulous and do the trick controlling that hunger without costing a fortune. I also have a latte in the afternoon to help "keep" me going. I am not sure this really helps seeing as it is Earl Gray tea but I like it :)


Dinner was a Brocolli and Cauliflower Stir Fry this was delicious and holy cow a lot of food. I served it with a bok choy slaw but didn't really need to. I loved the use of cauliflower pulsed in a food processor as the "rice" part of this dish. This picture of it today for lunch, I completely forgot to take a pic of last night. I was so anxious to try this last night :)

While I was watching Downton Abbey (LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SHOW), I had a handful of raisins. They were sweet and helped tame that little sweet tooth I have.

I would say that yesterday was a success, I'm still going strong today. I have yet to feel hungry or feel like I should indulge in anything else. It seems kind of funny to me about this. I know it might not last long but I don't want the other stuff. I know it will taste good but will only taste good for about a minute and then it is gone. It's not worth it.