Grain-Free Comfort Food?

Hello everyone!




I am always trying to read up on things grain-free, and while chatting with a friend of mine about a book she had seen for vegan comfort food, the lightbulb went off in my head- Are there Paleo (dairy/legume/grain/gluten-free) comfort food books as well?


So, I went to my good old friend Amazon.com and typed in the search line "Paleo Comfort Food".


And then I got directed to this title:

Paleo Comfort Foods- Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen by Julie & Charles Mayfield

The good thing about this is that the recipes are free of anything I don't want to eat- grain/beans/dairy.  I downloaded the ebook to my Kindle Fire and I will be going over it during the weekend and let you guys know how it is.

My gluten/grain free ladies (and anyone else) any good websites, books, etc for gluten free recipes? Post below!

Have a great night!

Hello everyone!


Today I start Meta Abcentric, and this morning I took measurements and weight. (look to the right!)


The only exercise I really did was walk daily and stretch, and since May 23 (about 2 weeks ago?) I lost 4.75 inches and 11.1 pounds!


*Yay!* 


I knew I was feeling smaller, but I thought it was just in my head.




Ok, off to work and do my workouts, and I will check back in tonight!!!




Have a great Monday!

Hello everyone!




Today was the bootcamp workout that almost wasn't.  Last night, my refrigerator and freezer officially died, so I had to deal with that.  For a while I only got my leg reps (25! Yay!) done and my hour of power (walking). 


It's pretty late at night and I just finished 40 minutes of dance cardio as well as 25 of all the arms and abs work. I'm exhausted.


I have to get up early and await the delivery of my new refrigerator, and attempt 30 reps of everything tomorrow. Also tomorrow is my last day of 100% step touching. Scary!






Have a good night!

To Starch or not to Starch

Hello everyone!




Today I had a completely grainless day. However, it was not starch free.


Breakfast:


4 hard boiled eggs


Lunch:


Beef vegetable soup


Snack (during class)


Kettle potato chips seasoned with sea salt (starch!)


Dinner:


An italian sub sandwich but instead of a bun, the meat and vegetables were wrapped inside a lettuce  leaf.
Mashed potatoes (more starch!)


So yes, while I did manage to not eat grains today, I ate starch from potatoes. Not very much, the total amount (the chips and the mashed) is smaller than my hand.


But here begs the question- Should I eliminate them 100%?  I don't think that is 100% possible, but I do want to try to keep my starch sources from potatoes (preferably sweet potatoes- lower blood sugar effect).


If any of you are grain free, do you still eat starch? Comment below!

Hello everyone!


I haven't done my Meta today (I MIGHT- depends on how I feel).


Getting back into moving around and eating better... Is actually a pretty tiring process this time around for me.  Mostly PHYSICALLY tiring.


However, today was not 100% wasted.  I did walk for an hour and it took a lot out of me. Back aching, feet hurt, etc.  Apparently not having wheat today also seems to have drained me. According to the book "Wheat Belly" this is actually pretty common.


So I am going to take this week one day at a time- still keeping active but active for what I can handle with my energy level. 


I guess an hour walk is decent, I do feel like I did something and I want to go to  bed after posting this, hahaha.




Have a great  night!

Feeling even beter... Kind of.

Hello everyone-




A week after messing up  my neck, it feels about 90% better.  It's looking likely that I'll be able to work out again this Monday.


I have to go shopping tonight or tomorrow for some more wheat-free food.  I still have some meats so what I need are salads and perhaps some more veggies (maybe more berries but we'll see how much they are).


I have also decided to see if there is some Greek Yogurt on sale- I love the stuff and the protein content is very good too~! I like it plain or with honey mixed in.  


Have you done your shopping for the week?  What kinds of foods do you buy at the store?




Have a great Saturday!

Even more good news

Hello everyone!


Earlier today I was mentioning the good things happening to me- not losing much of my results, feeling better, etc.




I also heard more good news today.


One of my good friends has a young sister who is very obese, and has been for quite some time.  I haven't talked to this friend in a while and I heard some astonishing news.


In 3 weeks, her sister lost 20 pounds and went from having a blood glucose level of 300 to 120. IN THREE WEEKS with no exercise.


What went right? Her mother stopped feeding her grains and keeps her on berries, yogurt, meats, and vegetables. 


She now says she is not as hungry as she used to be (this was a kid who would CONSTANTLY want food), more energy to play, and feels much better in general.


I am so proud, she inspired me to take grainless-ness by the balls again (lately I have been dipping into them) and show my wheat belly who's boss, or as my other friend put it- hop on the No-Grain Train.




Have a great night, just thought I would gush here because I couldn't hold it in. :) 

Another less than stellar day.

Hello everyone!




Again, another blah workout day.  I think I am going to hold off on Meta until next week, because these days I am just not feeling like doing much.  I feel like it's a struggle to get up and go to the bathroom sometimes. 


Today, I actually did something active but it wasn't TAM.  I walked 30 minutes to class, found out that class was canceled for today, and walked back.  My  back (and boobs) have been killing me all week and I have nodded off at my desk at home 4 times today. (sorry to be a whiner)


I really need a kick in my ass. Big time.




I think this is one of my worst slumps in a while. :(

More on the pregnancy workouts

Hello everyone!

I had a really busy Saturday- no workout but I did walk a lot. My foot is feeling much better, now I am waiting anxiously for my new shoes to get here on Monday. Quickie post today.

In other news, Tracy posted some more pics on Facebook concerning her pregnancy workouts- this time photo shoots for what I believe will be for the cover/advertising part.   I think she looks cute pregnant- I think she is currently 6 months along.

I am really excited for these workouts to come out even though I am not pregnant.  If I were, or if I ever do become pregnant, I would like to give these a try.  How about any of you guys?  If you happened to be pregnant after these videos become available, would you try them? (Of course, if your doctor clears you for it)

I also have been in the process of looking for grain free recipes.  I decided to try going grainless again (after the great results I got from doing it before) and I am trying to figure out ways to make it affordable and have some variety in it as well.  

Not sure if I will be able to get a workout in tomorrow, but I will do my best. Have a great weekend!

Meta Day 2

Hello everyone!


Quickie post!


I completed a second day of Ab meta, just as intense as before.  It was NOT easy because yesterday made me really damn sore and I also am having bad cramps.  Despite that I got it done anyway with a few small differences.


1. It took way longer because I was feeling weak (period be damned) 
2. I was very tired by the end of the dance cardio, instead of doing the actual last combination the way it was taught, I just did a lot of grapevines and step touching as intensely as I could handle. 


The end result- still very sore, haha. I do feel more tighter and sucked in also. 


I really hope this soreness starts to lessen a little. It's hard to walk and everything. >_<


Hope everyone had a good Tuesday! 

Horrible Day

Hello everyone-

Today's post isn't diet related, today I am just going to vent I think.  I have been feeling really stressed out about a lot and it's making me crazy.

1. Today, someone stole my iPhone probably right out of my purse. Either that, or it fell out of my purse, someone found it, turned the power off and took it with them. Why would anyone think of giving it to Lost and Found???? That would only be the RIGHT thing to do. Had my carrier suspend service and iCloud is trying to track it. It's password protected too. If I don't find it soon, I have to wipe it and give it up for dead. And if I get a new phone I have to pay full retail price. Oh how grand!

2. Tomorrow is my final exam. This is nowhere near as stressful as the missing phone, seeing as all my personal info is on it.

This crap really makes me upset and makes me want to just go get some junky food and eat myself into a coma or some other ridiculous behavior. (I will try not to)  

Also the doctor said before I get tested for celiac/wheat sensitivity I have to keep eating wheat so as not to get a false negative on the blood test. So, here I am, eating wheat, feeling miserable both generally and digestively, and now this phone theft stuff. Ugh

I hope you guys are having a better day than me. Chin up, I guess.

Giving Paleo Another Shot- and Why You Should Too.

Hello everyone!




In a previous post, I mentioned how I would be going Paleo again and why, and that I would discuss my reasons for it later. Well, later is here now.


Some of you might have heard about Paleo but have no idea what it entails, or maybe you know a little about it.  Basically, when following a Paleo diet, you're pretty much eating like a caveman.

There really were no fat cavepeople. 

The basic gist of it is you do not eat dairy, cereal grains or even grainlike seeds like quinoa, no legumes (beans, peanuts, etc), and focus on eating fruits, meats and non starchy vegetables.  

To find out more, read The Paleo Solution and The Paleo Diet. For recipes, The Paleo Diet Cookbook is also a great resource.

Why am I deciding to go this path? Aren't grains good for you? Well not as good as you think. Especially wheat. I read that a lot more people have a sensitivity to wheat and gluten than one may realize. Also, not all wheat sensitivity/celiac disease symptoms are digestive either.  It has been linked to things like asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis and more as well as the constipation/diarrhea, etc.  After going through the symptoms I have read about I realize that I do have a lot of them. There are other reasons wheat is horrible for you (For example- it has a appetite INDUCING property and creates hormone imbalances) and the book Wheat Belly which I have mentioned before has a lot of evidence as to why.

Do I have celiac? I very well may. I am going to the allergist this week (I have had a nasty rash for 3 months now that just won't quit) and while I am there, I am going to ask for the blood test for celiac. Better safe than sorry.  Celiac or not, I am still going to quit wheat but that kind of thing is good to know in general. 

Even though I am not starting my bootcamp workouts tomorrow (I MIGHT but I am not certain. I really would prefer I start on Wednesday) I am going to start my wheat free life. (And I hope this helps my rash- medicine was only a temporary relief)

I hope everyone had a great weekend. See you soon!

Still sick but I have another article!

Hello everyone!

No workout to really speak of this time.  I am very sick, both my nose and lungs are filled with snot and I generally feel like crap. 

Remember before how I talked about giving up wheat, and mentioned the book "Wheat Belly"?  I came across an article with an interview with the author.  It is a concise version of why we shouldn't be eating wheat.

The Evils of Wheat

This past week I haven't been very good about dieting either, but I did buy some foods for when I get better- I picked up some organic grass fed ground beef, some organic salad, some eggs, balsamic vinegar, and some blackberries. I hope the salad doesn't go bad before I get better.  However my weight hasn't changed much. I did gain a little back but not all of it.

I want to get back into the book workouts and eat this way again. I felt so much better being grain and starch free. Now I feel like shit in other ways all over again. Gotta get back on the horse, as they say.

I might go to the doctor tomorrow and get looked at for this cold and my ankle while I am at it. That's still hurting from time to time too.  Hope you guys are doing well- also I am DONE with school for this semester after Tuesday. I might wait to work out til then. Not sure.

Abcentric Metamorphosis Day 8

Hello everyone!

Well first a quick post about my workout last night.  I wasn't feeling too well, like I was starting to come down with a cold or something (which I woke up with). All I was able to get through was my MS- 30 reps per leg but it was a HUGE struggle.

Next, I want to update you guys on my 1 week weight results-

On 11/14, I weighed 284.4 pounds, on 11/21 I weighed 268 pounds. That's 16.4 pound weight loss. Yes, you read that right.  And my scale is not tricking me.  I went to the doctor also for something else and they weighed me and it was the same loss AND my blood pressure went down from 138/89 to 120/81. I was shocked that even that little bit made a big difference in blood pressure.

I think that weight loss has a lot to do with 2 things- how I am eating and the fact that I do SOME form of workouts every day.

My diet has changed a lot.  I recently read a book called "Wheat Belly" by William Davis.  In short, the book explains that modern wheat is NOT good for you at all. It is not the same wheat as it was even less than a century ago.  Modern wheat seems to be responsible for a LOT of health problems, especially obesity and the problem is that wheat is in SO MUCH food these days.  It goes into more horrifying detail about all the health problems and stuff but it was enough to make me give up wheat and grains most of the time for good measure.

Check the book out on Amazon here.

I feel physically a lot better eating like this too. And it's not quite as hard as it sounds. Yes it can be challenging, but it IS doable.

Have a great day guys!