Health Experiment Day Eleven

I would have to say today has been my best day yet and we are only 11 days in. I woke up feeling rested and had tons of energy! Got up and went right to my yoga mat and got a great workout in. It always makes my day go better when I have stretched everything out and I am loose. I even had the energy to get a good walk in the afternoon. As a matter of fact I felt so good that I even raced my 6 year old around the track a few times. I was hungry right on time for my meals and drank plenty of water. It really was a good day!

I think sometimes we don’t realize how bad we feel on a constant basis. It is so easy to look at the exhaustion, the achy muscles,  and the mental and emotional tiredness we face on a daily basis as normal. But it is not normal! Your body has been designed to run as a well-maintained machine not like a beat up jalopy. It is never too late to start to make changes in your life so that you can enjoy life to the fullest. After all you only have one life and one body why not make the most of both of them?

Breakfast

sausage

eggs

kale medley

strawberries

Lunch

Stuffed peppers

salad

Dinner

Sweet and sour turkey veggie stir fry

spaghetti squash

salad

For more information on this experiment, check out my introduction here!

Health Experiment Day Ten

We are now 10 days into this experiment. I am starting to notice two really important changes in myself. First, the constant heavy bloating feeling is starting to die down. That by itself is worth everything I have changed and done so far. Secondly, I am seeing that it is taking less food to satisfy my hunger at every meal. My plate sizes are definitely getting smaller. When I first started this 10 days ago I would load my plate up with lots of veggies and salad and be able to eat the entire thing. But now my portion is about half of what it was! I think my body has gotten to the place where it realizes that it doesn't need to hold onto so much fat. Getting out of starvation and famine mode and into the “get rid of the toxic fat” mode. No matter how you look at it this is a win win for me.

Breakfast

veggie omelet

kale medley

blueberries

Lunch

salad with avocado, sunflower seeds, and balsamic vinegar

Dinner

Chicken cacciatore

oven baked potato

roasted root veggies salad

For more information about this experiment, check out my introduction here!

Health Experiment Day Nine

I think one of the biggest advantages to this health experiment is the amount of food you get to eat. If you're not really hungry then don’t eat much. If you're really hungry add some more veggies to your plate! There are no portion sizes and no calories to count.This is not a diet! It is 30 days of eating real food then adding things back and seeing what affects your health in a positive or negative way.

So far we have not been feeling like we have limited choices. I am the kind of cook that doesn't follow a recipe exactly. I cook based on what I have on hand and what sounds good to me. I have been having so much fun playing around with fresh herbs and all sorts of veggies. I have been trying new combinations on all of our meat.

It really has been very fun so far! My family always says that some of my best meals are the ones that I have no plan for. The hardest part for me has been remembering what I put in these new dishes and remembering to take pics. I think overall this has been going good so far!

Breakfast

turkey sausage

eggs

kale medley

raspberries

Lunch

salad with avocado, sunflower seeds, blueberries, olive oil, and lime

Dinner

Chicken cacciatore

mashed potato

curry cauliflower

salad

For more information on this experiment, check out my intro here!

Health Experiment Day Eight

One thing I came to realize on my shopping trip yesterday was how important it is to read the labels. This is something I know is imperative to my health, but sometimes I do get lazy about it. During these 30 days I absolutely must keep all my food chemical-free so I can really figure out what foods have a negative impact on me. A few examples that I found was olive oil that had corn oil in it. I found some kalamata olives that had an ingredients label half the size of the jar.

My biggest shocker was the shredded coconut. It had propylene glycol in it. Unless my dried coconut is in danger of freezing I see no reason why antifreeze needs to be added to it. I really don’t understand why dangerous chemicals need to be added to our food.

The only way to be safe is to know what is in your food. You have to read the label. I once heard that if a  8 year old can’t read the label then you probably don’t want to eat it. Be informed about you eat.

I know for me personally my health depends on reading the labels and knowing what each ingredient is. I am very chemical sensitive and it doesn't take much of the wrong one to trigger a major migraine or severe stomach discomfort. Know what it is that you're putting into your body. After all your health is way too important to not protect.

Breakfast

Veggie omelet with raspberries

Lunch

Ground turkey Burgers

Fried potatoes

acorn squash (roasted whole)

salad

Dinner

ground turkey with sauce

zucchini

spaghetti squash

For more information on this experiment, go to the introduction here!

Health Experiment Day Seven

Today was my big weekly grocery shopping excursion. I am not a big fan of shopping of any kind, but the family seems to like to eat on a constant basis. So I did what all good moms do and braved the early morning shopping rush. Spent my $160 for the week and shall hope I have to buy nothing else. This week looks like a lot of ground turkey and chicken meals since the price of beef (even the on-sale stuff) is just way too expensive to be economical. The best deals I found were on eggs, potatoes, squash, and cauliflower. I will be using some of the chicken and fruit that we have stocked up in the freezer. After all the shopping was done I got all my squash roasted and the seeds roasted as well. I also made a huge pot of vegetable soup for dinner that was so good and simple.

Breakfast

veggie omelets with raspberries

Lunch

salmon seasoned with Canadian steak seasoning

mashed potato

green beans

salad

Dinner

Vegetable soup

Salad

For more information about this challenge, check out my introduction here!

Here is this week's grocery list.

Experiment Day Six

It is nice to get another day under my belt. Nothing really exciting or noticeable going on with me, but the Hubs is noticing that his joints have been a little more sore than usual today. Could be some inflammation being dealt with on a chemical level or maybe it is just the friggen cold weather we are about to get.

Day 6 is the day that I have to get my grocery list and menu for the week put together. I make my menu based on what is on sale, so this week will have lots of squash, potatoes, and cauliflower in it. Got to stay in budget the best I can. Last week I did not go over at all! That was a really great achievement especially since this way of eating really makes planning and shopping different.

Also every Thursday in my house is “Eat all the leftovers day!” I hate adding a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables to a fridge full of leftovers! Besides I need all the space and bowls to get my batch cooking on for the week. So there will be no menu or recipes of this day’s food. Still doing good and going strong.

For more information about this experiment, check out my intro here!

Health Experiment Day Five

Today was just a busy day, but I got everything accomplished I needed to. I even got a 1 ½ mile walk in! I had a family pow-wow last night to find out what was working for everyone and what I still need to tweak. Was there anything that really stood out as amazing and must be made again or anything that was terrible? Apparently everything tasted amazing and that is a good place to be with 25 days left. Everybody is loving this so far! I have had to keep track of what veggies I ran out of and when, so I should be able to do a much more accurate grocery list tomorrow and keep things going smooth.

Breakfast

Sausage patty

2 over easy eggs

kale medley

½ cup sweet potato

Lunch

Salad with leftover meatloaf, ½ avocado, and blueberries. Dressed it with olive oil and lime.

Dinner

Ground turkey w/veggies

Salad

For more information on this experiment check out my introduction here!