Whole 30 Round 2 Day 1

My plans to start a second Whole 30 with a week or so break from the first one quickly fell apart when my husband left for training. It has proven very hard for me to have the motivation to even just go to the grocery store that is literally 400 yards from my home. We may have even eaten PIZZA! and ICE CREAM! But, I'm putting the last 3 weeks behind me and starting fresh. My husband is still gone, but I think my foray into hedonism has pushed the reset button on my motivation meter and I'm ready to go again.


Breakfast
2HB eggs
About 2 hand fulls of spinach sauteed in lard
Hand full of blueberries

Lunch
Easiest stew made of carrots, 1lb of grass fed stew meat, 1/2 an onion, 1tbsp lard, garlic powder and salt
A beet! These are so yummy, but very sugar-y. It was a great moment today when my oldest son fought for and ate half of my beet. (Roasted at 350 for about 1hr 15 in tin foil and drizzled with coconut oil)

Dinner
Chicken meat cut from the breast of a roasted chicken - skin on
2 Hand fulls raw spinach
1/2C cherry tomatoes

Snacks (Not Pictured)
1 grapefruit
1/2C or so of pineapple
Hand full of almonds

Paleo Project: Homemade Lard

In a quest to find fats that I could cook with on the Whole 30, I decided to try my hand at making lard. I was getting very bored with eating everything stir fried in coconut oil and had a bunch of fatback and leaf fat in my freezer from the pig I had butchered in May just waiting to be rendered.

Lard purchased in stores has trans-fats, so homemade is really the only way to go with this. Lard has a very high smoke point, which makes it safe to cook with at high temperatures as oils will oxidize if you allow them to get so hot that they smoke. Check this article out to see what happens to oil when we overheat it. Lard is made up of about 40% saturated, 48% monounsaturated and 12% polyunsaturated fats. Depending on what the pigs have been eating, the fat may also have a good Omega 3 to Omega 6 fat ratio. According to this article by Christ Masterjohn at The Daily Lipid, lard is also the second richest source of Vitamin D when the pigs have been exposed to sunshine.

The two fats I had to choose from were fatback and leaf fat. Fatback is the fatty tissue on the pig's back right below the skin. I had read that when rendered fatback has a slightly piggy flavor. I was intrigued. Leaf fat comes from right around the kidney's and is considered the highest quality fat because it is completely flavorless, but has the great cooking qualities of lard. I chose to use my fatback in case I royally screwed this up.

To render lard you can either use wet or dry methods. After some research, I decided to wet render the lard. It seemed easiest and most fool-proof of all the methods.

I recommend you check out this video from Alton Brown on the benefits of lard and a quick overview of how to render it.

- Cut off any remaining skin or muscle tissue, then cut fat into 1/2 inch or so cubes. I used about 2.5 pounds and did 2 separate batches. Add 1/3 C water per batch.

- Bake uncovered in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours

- Every half hour or so I used a potato masher and mashed the fat to help the process along

- Rendering was finished when all that was left are these crumbly things. You can make cracklin's, by my attempt was an epic fail. Maybe next time!

- Allow to cool and you can freeze it, keep it in the fridge or keep some on the counter (which is what I do).

- It will be a milky white solid after it cools.

The leftover solids

The Rendered Lard

Project Cost
$2.00/lb from my local farmer. I buy from Mount Vernon Farm in Sperryville, VA

2.5lbs @ $2.00/lb = $5.00 total for enough lard to last me 5-6 months.

Thoughts
Rendered lard from fatback does have a slightly piggy flavor, but I don't really notice this unless I am cooking something that otherwise has no real flavor like eggs or chicken breast. I noticed that unlike frying in coconut oil or bacon grease (which has yummy salt, sugar, etc.), I had to add some spices to my eggs fried in lard. Turkish Seasoning from Penzey's did the trick.

I have added lard to cook meat a little before adding ingredients to soup and have no problem. I can use it pretty much interchangeably with butter or coconut oil now as long as I know that I will be seasoning things.

Will I do this again? Hell yes! Cheap, easy and a super nutritious cooking fat. I'm even planning on trying it out on the Primal Palate's Pumpkin Pie instead of palm shortening which can be hella expensive. I may use the lard from leaf fat for this, though.

Paleo Project - Homemade Mayo

If you've inspected the back of a Hellman's mayo jar, you know that there are some less than desirable ingredients used to make that creamy delicious condiment.

In my opinion, the worst are Soybean oil and EDTA - which has potential as a cytotoxin. Even the mayo jars that say "Olive Oil" are made with some soybean oil or canola oil.

Note: If you believe that canola oil is truly heart-healthy, do some googling. I am not an expert, not a research biochemist, but I can read and strongly encourage you to do your own research and seek out studies involving your preferred foods before accepting food recommendations from our government agencies.


I decided to attempt a homemade mayo using this recipe from Everyday Paleo. She includes a video demo. Ingredients include: Olive Oil, Eggs, Apple Cider Vinegar, Mustard, Sea Salt, Cayenne Pepper (which I left out).

The Cost

Money -
$2.00 for olive oil
$.75 for eggs  (this is factoring in the most expensive free-range farmer's market eggs)
.. other ingredients were so little that I felt this was a negatable factor. The recipe made the equivalent of about 2/3 of a small jar of Hellman's.
Total: around $3.00

Time -
This took about 15 minutes to make doing the olive oil slowly and properly.. which is a lot of time when you have two small children to be slowly drizzling olive oil.

Comparison
The consistency was not as thick as regular mayo - a little more runny - but thick enough to spoon and spread on a burger. The taste of this recipe was strongly apple cider vinegar, so I made a second batch with 1/2Tbsp less and that tasted fine. The taste was also not that of regular mayo. While reminiscent, it definitely has its own taste..

My Thoughts

While not an exact substitute for mayonnaise, this recipe would be a great one as a base for a dipping condiment for veggies with some tweaking. On the video, Sarah Fragoso offers some twists on the recipe that I would like to try. This is also freaking delicious with sweet potato fries, but not something I as a woman with weight in mind would eat ALL THE TIME with my fries.

This keeps for about a week in the fridge, so it can be hard to use all up unless you halve the recipe or make a point to use it with burgers, veggies, on top of some fried eggs in the morning, etc. Because of that and the time required to make it, I would make this every other week or every third week and use guac instead on the off weeks.

My kids were not wild about this, but I think it would be great as a base with more ingredients like dill, salt and pepper and mixed into other things. My husband likes it and approves of it as a substitute for regular mayo with his one or two cans of tuna. Eating regular mayo was giving him stomach problems after our Whole 30, but he dumps a good 2/3 of a cup in with 2 cans of tuna.

I haven't ruled out the possibility of trying other recipes in the future, but this is the simplest one I have found and doesn't use expensive exotic oils. I would like to try this recipe someday from The Primal Palate because I think their recipes are fantastic and restaurant quality.

Hope this helps!
Enjoy~

Some thoughts about Goal Setting

One of the habits of successful people is goal setting. Determine now what it is you want and take the steps necessary to reach your goals. I think that it's important to have clear, definitive goals to make them achievable.

Example: My goal is to be healthy.

Because this is really nebulous, I think that being "healthy" isn't always the easiest to focus on. What does healthy mean? You want to eat perfectly, 100% of the time? Go on walks and hit the gym 5 days a week? Well, what are you going to do at the gym? For all but the most disciplined, this can be an impossible standard. Instead, I do something like this.


1. First, I have a framework of standards that I try to live by day-to-day or week-to-week.
             1. Eat well for the rest of my life
                   a. Eat "cheats" only on special occasions like birthdays or holidays. No more than bi
                      -weekly. Bonus if I can go through one of those occasions without "treating."
                      Ultimately, I don't want to think of any food as a treat and make it significant as a
                      reward. I don't want that relationship with my food.
                   b. Seldom eat out.
                   c. Continue to purchase new cookbooks, try new spices and cooking methods.
                   d. Make a weekly meal plan/shopping list and stick to it.
              2. Place importance on a healthy LIFESTYLE, not just eating habits.
                   a. Get 8-9 hours of sleep each night.
                   b. Have a weekly disconnect day with no ipod, computer, TV, or phone
                   c. Do something fun each week - pretend to be animals with my kids, wrestle, build a fort,
                       play Frisbee, read a book.
                   d. Focus on a small circle of friends that I call, write to, or otherwise connect with 
                       often. Cut down your friend list to the people you really care about.
                   e. Get rid of distractions. Cancel those magazine subscriptions that are taking up your
                       time or get rid of extra junk laying around your house, taking up your time &
                       space.               
              3. Be the best mom I can be
                   a. Try to read at least three books a day to my children
                   b. Try to be patient in all situations, taking each opportunity as a chance to practice
                   c. Show affection often. Hug, kiss, cuddle, sing, love and PAY ATTENTION.
                   d. Make sure that I have the same standards of eating for my children that I have for
                       myself. If I truly think that gluten tears up your insides, it's not o-kay for me to shun it
                       and then feed my little babies cheerios because I need them to be quiet in a store.

2. List Long Term Goals - write them out and post them somewhere you can see them easily - then break them down. How are you going to achieve them?

             a. Start a Gym .. too long to break down on this post ;)
             b. Get down to 19% body fat
                   - Do back-to-back Whole 30's for 3 months, reevaluate this plan at the end of the three
                     months.
                   - Crossfit style workouts at least 3x weekly with a day of active fun like hiking, Frisbee or
                      tennis with my husband on the weekend. Pencil in workout "dates."
                   - Minimize stress by planning ahead and limiting commitments. Sleep well.
              c. Potty train Devin
                   ... you get the idea!

3. Short Term - write these out the night before or in the morning with your cup of coffee:
                a. Do the laundry
                b. Pick up groceries.
                c. ...

It helps to write all these things out. The standards of operation are in my head, but I like to have the long and short term goals written out. It would help to sit down at the beginning of each month and/or week to plot a course for that time period. Each month write down dates like birthdays and then each week write down what you'll have to buy or do for those parties. Each week write out a meal plan and shopping list.

I have no strength goals, because I just don't care at the moment. I think that will come with time and some more thought.

Disclaimer:
I'm not an expert on anything!! This is not a complete list of my goals and I can't tell you how to run your life. But, I can tell you that trial and error are your friends if you are willing to learn.

Mark Sisson's 21-Day Total Body Transformation Book Review

I have lately been amassing quite a few Paleo/Primal Books and I figure that now would be a great time to start doing video reviews! Here's the first:

21-Day Total Body Transformation by Mark Sisson of marksdailyapple.com

Great book, especially for the beginner or as a refresher for those that have been at Paleo awhile. I feel that this book is something I'll be able to give future clients when I someday start my nutrition practice. Also, I like that the book addresses the multi-faceted approach to achieve optimum health through the Primal Blueprint lifestyle. It's not *just* about diet. It's about sleep, play, connecting meaningfully with family and learning to slowww way down.

Things I left out:
There is no meal/plan per se, but there are 2 selected suggestions for each meal of the day or variations for each meal.
Sisson also goes through suggestions for eating out AND details specifics for certain restaurants. I love that!

Let's start a Crossfit Gym and Whole 30 Round 2 Begins!

It is amazing how much the direction of one's life can change in the matter of a week. We have been in the Air Force going on seven years now. We've lived in Germany, been all through Europe, and have been at our current home in D.C. for over 2 years.

My husband has been Crossfitting at the gym on our base for almost two years and decided it was time to get certified and maybe instruct in his free time. He was hired by the gym and has been working there in addition to his active-duty job for two months. In that small amount of time, he has decided he'd like to make this a full-time gig.

While we have been back-and-forth about whether or not to leave the military to be closer to home to family, we've always pretty much had it in our heads that we were in for the full twenty until retirement. The benefits are unbeatable. Free health care, the opportunity to travel, and a guaranteed paycheck that is much higher than your average civilian job. We are about to walk away from all of that.

But, I'm at peace with that. This is the first time Justin has really felt passionate about something (other than me ;). And I have come to learn that having things is not a lasting source of happiness. One more thing to clean or put away or fix or replace when it is broken.

This is what I have been wrapped up in for the last few weeks. Figuring out logistics. Reading. Starting business plans. I'm very excited and a little nervous, but I know that this change will be an adventure and I support my husband.

-----
I am now ready to start Whole 30 round 2 and am planning to keep doing rounds of Whole 30 with 1-2 day breaks in between until I achieve the results I want. It's a little self-experiment that I am excited for.

My Whole 30 Results - Or, A Whole 25

So, this my sound lame but, my husband and I took a trip home around Day 24 of my Whole 30 challenge and although I swore I was going to see the challenge through to the end, I had some of my sister-in-law Becky's amazing squash pie. Among other things. I'm going to call this my Whole 25 and start round 2 today (the day after the Super Bowl).

Things I learned:

* After a week off of the Whole 30 challenge, it is easy to fall into the carb/caffeine binge cycle you worked so hard to get out of. I ate a ton of ice cream and had too much coffee, and I FELT IT! Gas, bloating, stomach aches and worst of all are the sugar headaches. I will endeavor to not do this to myself again.

* Sugar, while tempting, is resistable.

* I am strong and can do this. This is a completely do-able lifestyle once you learn your way around the kitchen and especially if there are supportive people (like my husband!! :) around. I was definitely one of those people that tried to replace gluten and sugar-filled treats with almond flour or coconut flour treats. This is really not the way to lose weight. In order to achieve the weight-loss results you want and have the best sense of well-being, you need to treat a treat as a treat! Once or twice a week. I love Sarah Fragoso's post on My Family and Treats.

* My husband ate a ton of almond butter, I did not do this. Nuts were limited and I only ate them in their whole form.

Things to do for round 2:

* Not eat so many dates. I was completely replacing artificial sugar with the natural sugar from dates.

* Add in exercise. Regularly. Crossfit workouts 3-5 times per week and walking.

* Go ALL 30 days!

My Results:

* I am very proud of my results. Weight that was not budging has dropped more than I hoped. My end goal is to have around 18-19% body fat and I see now that that is achievable.

Let's go round 2!!! I'm excited to see where I'll be this summer.