Day 16: Late Night Dinner Sucks!

So my evening last night did no go according to plan. I was going to go home, make dinner, and then do a little shopping, but that is not what happened.

My boyfriend wasn't feeling well yesterday so I went and took him some nasal spray and a hug per his request after work. I spent a couple of hours with him, and then I returned home and was hungry. I really didn't want to make dinner, so I meandered over to Burger King. It's really hard to order food at fast food establishments when they hardly have anything you can eat. I managed, though and ordered the tendergrill chicken sandwich (which looks twice the size on the menu than it really is, btw). And I had it with lettuce only and my water.

I would really like to be able to order whatever I want some days when I go out to eat but I don't. Today our company brought in Wendys for their cafe here and I have been watching people walk by with their food and today I realized I don't eat very much apparently. I have seen both men and women walking by with two or three burgers or more. Even when I was eating whatever I never ordered more than one burger at any restaurant because I always felt that was more than sufficient. But what do I know?

Today I am hoping to get some groceries for dinner and get the rest of my Christmas shopping done as well. So this way I won't be tempted by all of the gazillion fast food places I live near. Within less than a half a mile I live by a Wendys, a McDonalds, a Burger Kind, a Taco Bell, a Subway, and about three other Mexican places and two other sandwich shops as well. See why it is so easy to just go and get dinner instead of make it?

Well, I have only five days to go and for the most part I feel like I have done well. Yes I have slipped a little bit, but there hasn't been a day where I have completely blown it, so I am thinking that overall I have been successful.

Day 15: I Can See The Light At The End Of The Tunnel!

In many ways I am very glad I started this diet right before the holiday season! Why, you ask? Because the less money I spend on take-out and other eating establishments means I have more money to spoil people for Christmas! :-)

But really I am glad I am working on this diet during the holidays because this time of year is always accompanied with good food and a lot of it! Cookies, cake, ham, turkey, and all those other yummy things we all love to eat during this time of year! I am thankful to be on this diet because I am learning how to enjoy different foods and not feel deprived. I can honestly say that I have not felt deprived on this diet. I thought I would feel deprived but in all honesty I have not. I get chocolate every day which is very important and with my almond milk and my frozen bananas, I can make fabulous smoothies that are almost as good as my beloved oreo shakes!

This diet has also allowed me to develop my cooking skills even further. I have been getting creative as of late with my meals too! So if anyone needs healthy yet delicious ideas for meals, let me know. I have had some real winners as of late such as roast chicken and carrots, stuffed peppers, and mashed sweet potatoes.

I will admit, though, that I am so glad the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer, because I am looking forward to having a few more things back in my diet. What I am mainly hoping for is to have dairy and eggs back in my diet and pork too. The gluten I honestly won't miss as there are other things out there to replace that and I am also hoping to be able to have rice back in my diet too. I love rice and hope I can eat it again as well as tomatoes. How I have missed my salsa and ketchup!

Overall, I am not feeling any sicker or worse than I was before. I don't necessarily feel any better, but I don't feel worse and I am thankful for that.

Today I have another appointment with the doc and we will see if anything is going to be changing. We may even discuss my custom diet plan a little today. I am hoping so, because I plan to eat something fantastic after this diet is over, but I also will not eat anything that could screw up all of the work I have done either. But if he says I can have dairy, I am so celebrating with some sugar free frozen yogurt!

Day 10 - 14: Thanksgiving Break

I am so glad the long weekend is over! Too much good food floating around, but all things considered I think I did fairly well. Friday was probably the worst day for me as I did have a little bit of white potato and a small Diet Pepsi with lunch, but that was the worst thing I ate all week.

The mashed sweet potatoes and quinoa stuffing I made for Thanksgiving were a hit. A good many people in the family tried both and enjoyed it. I still have leftovers and I am glad because I enjoy leftovers from Thanksgiving. Yum!

Over the weekend I ran out of my "protein" shake so I had to run to the doc's office this morning and get some more. This was probably the worst weekend to run out of that, but I survived.

Well, I have only one week left of this strict diet! Some time next week after I am done with this diet, the doctor will be customizing a diet for me, so I am sure that there will be things I will be able to have again that I haven't been able to have during this time and I am sure that some things will remain restricted. My suspicions on what I cannot eat lie with gluten and anything deep fried in animal based oil or peanut oils. I also think caffeine and refined sugar will be out as well which is good as I need to kick my caffeine habit once and for all. If anything, this diet has been a blessing for kicking the caffeine. I honestly didn't see how I could go more than a day without my Pepsi, but I have learned that I can and I have also learned that I am the master of what I eat.

So, here is to the rest of the week! Today for lunch I have packed some leftover dill-lemon infused cod and some cooked zucchini. I made this for dinner last night and it was yum-o! So I am having it again for lunch today!

Day 9: I Can't Eat That, Or That, Or Even That

Yesterday went fairly well. I had my sweet potato and turkey sausage for breakfast. And I had my leftover white chicken chili for lunch. The caffeine headaches started yesterday and they got so bad I went home early from work. I laid down and was out like a light bulb. My calendar notification on my phone woke me up and reminded me I had a wedding reception to go to. I love going to wedding receptions, but not when I am on a restrictive diet. I went to the wedding and the bride and groom were lovely. As I made my way to the food table, everything on the table looked fabulously yummy and delicious but there was not one thing on the table I could have except for the water spiked with fresh orange slices, so I got a cup of that.

We sat down and I watched my mother eat a plate of yummy food and even have a very positive reaction to a chocolate cake ball. For a fleeting moment I was a little jealous. I did make it through the wedding without breaking my diet though. This is the first major social function I have been to since starting this diet and it helped me realize I am my own master and conquer this! Tomorrow (Thanksgiving), will be the ultimate test, however. I made some mashed sweet potatoes today for our work potluck and I think they will be good. I tried some of them last night and they were pretty tasty, so now I can have at least turkey and potatoes for lunch. Yay!

Tonight I am venturing my way to my grandparents cause my aunt and I are going to the movies and she wants to go to dinner, so tonight I have to be strong again and order a salad or grilled chicken. Wish me luck!

Day 8: One Week Down, Two To Go!

I have crossed the one week mark! It has been rough but for the most part I have been triumphant! The doc said I may experience fatigue and headaches. Well, that hit today. I am so tired and it has nothing to do with going to be late and I have a lack-of-caffeine headache this morning as well.

Yesterday wasn't too bad of a day. Doing some of my meal prep on Sunday helped a lot. I enjoyed a hearty breakfast of sweet potatoes and turkey sausage which I paired with a banana smoothie. I brought some of the leftover peppers I made for dinner the night before for lunch. I however, didn't think dinner through last night. The power company had to do some repairs in my neighborhood last night so the power was out and all of my appliances are electric so I couldn't make anything for dinner. The boyfriend and I went to my church activity and then we went and got some salads from Zupa's. I was hoping to get some soup, but they didn't have any soups that didn't have tomato, dairy, or noodles. All of the soups had at least one of these components.

I am now drinking my "protein" shake three times a day the doc has me taking. After this week I will go back down to twice a day and then once a day.

I am looking forward to going shopping for my Thanksgiving things today after work. It will be awesome! I enjoy cooking, so I will enjoy helping with the Thanksgiving feast this year and providing some alternatives to the dinner table!

Well that is all I have for today. Yesterday was easy to a degree even though I was a little frustrated with things I can't have. But alas, I will survive.

Day 6 & 7: The Weekend

I made it to the weekend! This has been a typical weekend full of activities and all sorts of fun! And like always these activities include good food. Since I am on this diet, I have had to be very choosy about what I eat. On Friday, my boyfriend and I went to the movie with some friends and we went to dinner before. We did go to a soup and salad place that has a fabulous salad bar, so I was able to get a green salad with lots of yummy veggies and chicken and nuts on it! Saturday my friend and I went to another movie and after the movie we went to lunch. Fortunately, we went to a place that has a huge a menu so I was able to order a veggie burger and I left all the condiments off and just got lettuce and onions on it. The other veggie they put on their burgers is tomatoes and I can't have those so it was a very boring burger by even my standard and I don't like a lot on my burgers to begin with. For dinner, though, I made white chicken chili in the slow cooker. My co-worker found the recipe for me and it was fabulous! I will have to post the recipe when I remember to.

Today (Sunday) has been a little easier and that is only because I typically don't eat out on Sundays and since I live alone I am able to control what I eat more than most. For breakfast I sliced up a sweet potato and put in a skillet with some olive oil and salt and pepper and cooked the potato until it started to get crispy. I then added some sweet Italian turkey sausage to the potato and finished cooking the potatoes with the sausage. I was a little worried it wouldn't taste good because of the natural sweetness of the potato, but it actually turned out really well and I loved it! I loved it so much I cooked another batch this afternoon and portioned it out into containers so I have breakfast all ready to go this week. For lunch I just had some of the leftover chili I made last night. I then put the rest of the chili into some containers and froze it. I will have some yummy lunches this week. For dinner I cooked my first quinoa. I made stuffed peppers which were stuffed with quinoa, ground turkey, carrots, and some various spices. I then baked the peppers in the oven. They turned out great! I had stuffed peppers leftover, so I will be taking some to work tomorrow for lunch for both the boyfriend and myself. I have made stuffed peppers before and those stuffed peppers re-heated well, so I am confident these will as well.

I then whipped up a batch of my banana almond milk smoothies. Instead of making them one at a time, I decided to make a large batch that will last about a day. I want to have some with breakfast and since I would rather sleep than get up and prepare breakfast I took advantage of my free afternoon to get ahead in my food preparation. That is the biggest thing that has changed. I have had to take time to prepare almost every meal I have eaten at home or at work. In the past, I could just grab one of my tv dinners or something from the fridge\freezer for easy lunch, but now I have to take time to prepare. During the week I don't have much time to do advanced meal prep, so I was glad I had today to do some. I am set til Wednesday in terms of breakfast and lunch. Dinner doesn't need to be prepared beforehand as I tend to make that up on the spot anyways.

Tomorrow I will have been on the diet for one week and I must say I am feeling pretty good about reaching my goals. Thanksgiving is this week and I have already found some great recipes to do, so I will not be deprived of any of my favorites.

Have a great week everyone and I will be back with more diet updates!

Day 5: A Little Better

I am doing much better this morning than I did yesterday. The doc warned me there would be days when I would crave lots of bad for me things and yesterday was definitely one of those days. I made it through though.

Yesterday I ate my first sweet potato! It was quite tasty and since I can't have butter or anything like that, I nuked the thing in the microwave and then sprinkled some of my "candied" pecans on top. It was quite delicious. I am glad I liked the sweet potato because now I know that I will be able to have mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.

In preparation for the most difficult Thanksgiving ever eating wise I started looking on the internet for recipes. I have never ventured much into the vegan free, gluten free, or dairy free world and so I was quite astonished as to the amount of recipes and blogs out there with recipes! I have a co-worker who is vegan so she gave me some resources too! And some of the recipes I stumbled upon looked absolutely delicious! I am thankful that there are people out there who eat this way either because of personal beliefs or for health reasons who have done the leg work for me. I don't think I could be this restrictive in my diet forever - I enjoy food too much! But I am glad I have this opportunity for a little while to understand that I can still eat well!

Here are some of the blog\recipe sites I found that I really liked:
- For the Love of Food Blog: A food enthusiast's journey to find community, health, and joy through eating.
- My Real Food Life

These two sites have a lot of resources on them, especially the second one. It has gluten free, vegan friendly, dairy free, and even soy free recipes on them.

Today will be better! I got more bananas, so I was able to have my new favorite thing with breakfast - my banana almond milk smoothies! I had that with the rest of my chicken sausage. Today I start having my "protein" shake twice day - once before breakfast and once before dinner. I am kind of glad I get to have it more right now cause it is the only sweet chocolatey thing I get all day! I will take my chocolate fix any way I can get it! By Monday I will be having this shake three times day with each meal.

I can't believe I almost through my last week. I have started to see some results, but right now I am still working through the caffeine and sugar withdrawals. Hopefully by Monday those will be more manageable. Here is to the next week!

Day 4: My Resolve Is Weakening

Well, I had my first follow-up appointment with the doc yesterday and was able to report that I am doing okay on the diet, but I must say my resolve is weakening!

I don't know what is causing my resolve to weaken. It could be what I discussed with the doc yesterday or it could just be my body craving certain foods and the cravings are almost more than I can stand.
I had a couple of questions about some specifics on the diet - mainly if there were some foods I could have since the diet guidelines didn't clarify on them. The first one I asked about was honey. I know I was told I couldn't have sweeteners but I thought maybe honey was different as it is nectar and bee spit. The doctor said no honey. So basically the only sweet thing I can eat is fruit and I can use spices and herbs and there are some spices like cinnamon and vanilla that are kind of sweet. The next thing I asked about was rice. I know the diet said no rice, but I wasn't sure if that meant white rice or all rice. Doc said it was all rice. And then I asked about oatmeal as I wasn't sure if this was a grain or what. Apparently oatmeal has gluten in it - who knew? So since I can't have gluten, I can't have oatmeal and I love oatmeal. The doc said I could have fruit juice, but only if I juiced it myself and made sure the pulp from the fruit was put back in. But I can buy orange juice at the store, but have to buy 100% juice with lots of pulp. So, that was nice to find out.

The doc then asked me how I was feeling overall. He asked if I was getting any headaches. I had told him I hadn't had any headaches, but then last night one hit me hard. Let the caffeine withdrawals begin! He also asked me if I had any brain fog - well, I didn't yesterday but my brain is a little fuzzy today, but I think it is just because I am tired. I didn't realize that when you are going through a detox how hard it can be on your body.

The first thing I thought about doing this morning was cheating on my diet. I was craving a breakfast sandwich from the sandwich shop that is literally a half a block from my home. They are so good, but I persevered and didn't fall for the craving. I had my "protein" shake this morning and then I had some almond butter with celery sticks and apple slices for dipping. I also ate an orange too. So, I have survived this morning so far.

For lunch I have packed a sweet potato which I plan to "bake" in the microwave. I also have some grapes and cashews. But I am thinking of running out on my lunch and getting a grilled chicken breast from like Wendys or Chik-Fil-A (or as my nephews call it: the Chicken-Cow place).

So, this brings me to my next point. I LOVE to eat out because I enjoy trying to new foods and I really enjoy a few places. Last night I found myself in the food court at the mall. I always knew mall food wasn't very good but when you are on a strict diet what do you eat? I was able to order a chicken sandwich from Chik-Fil-A and I ditched the bun and just ate the chicken breast with the lettuce. Not as filling as I had hoped, but I did feel satisfied in that I got to eat out. I also have plans to eat out for dinner tonight too. I am thinking I am going to get the steamed veggies and mandarin chicken from Panda Express, or I will get a salad from Subway. I will decide when I get there.

So, here is to the rest of the day - I hope I survive. And if anyone is interested in nut butters, check out this site for more information on how to make them yourself. I am exploring this new world of food and nut butters and so I am willing to share what I find. Click here for the information on the nut butters.

And since the doc told me I can't have the traditional Thanksgiving dishes other than Turkey and Veggies, I am going to be finding a rice stuffing recipe but substitute quinoa in place of the rice and I am going to get some buckwheat flour so I can have gravy and I will be attempting to make some mashed potatoes from sweet potatoes as well. And I think I will make enough in case other people in the family want to try it.

Day 3: Breakfast

Oh the humanity! I am sure some question my motives in posting a blog everyday about this diet I have to follow. Well, it helps in so many ways! Whenever I have tried to do a diet for weight reasons or health reasons in the past I have always failed miserably as I have never felt like I have had to be accountable to anyone. I know a lot of people can diet and do what they need to do without sharing it with anyone, but I need people around me to know what is up and to encourage me in my goals. It also helps me be more accountable.

My boyfriend has been very supportive in this diet. He has even decided to try and give it a go. I didn't ask him to, but he felt it was a way he could be supportive. And my mother and my grandmother have both been talking to me about Thanksgiving and have been brainstorming on what to make for me so I don't feel like I am going without. So yeah, my boyfriend and my family are awesome!

Today I just really wanted to throw in the towel on this diet. It has been very difficult and I am only on Day 3, but then I remembered I am speaking with the doctor today. I want to be able to tell him that I have been doing my best and have only faltered once since Monday. I plan to let the doctor know I have a blog so he can check my progress if he so desires as well. But this diet will not get the best of me - I will win and be triumphant!

This morning I got up early and got ready for work, so I had a little more time to make breakfast. I was able to get some free apples yesterday so I decided to cook up some chicken sausage and add the apples at the very end. I typically don't like sweet and savory together, but I have always enjoyed the combination of apples and sausage. I was going to make them into a breakfast burrito by wrapping the sausage and apples up in some romaine lettuce, but that didn't work out, so I ditched the lettuce and just ate the sausage and apples with a fork. I also had my "protein" shake which I have found stirs up more easy if I put in the almond milk first and then the powder. Yesterday I put in the powder first and then the milk and I had a big gloopy mess on my hands.

So I know when the doc calls this afternoon I will be able to report my successes so far. For my mid morning snack I have brought some celery sticks and an apple to to dip into some almond butter. And then for lunch I will be having my leftover taco stuff from last night. It will be delish!

Chicken Sausage and Apples (I ditched the lettuce after I took the picture, but at least it makes it look pretty): 

Day 2: Lunch and Dinner

Lunch today was anti-climactic as it consisted of my leftover chicken and carrots from dinner last night, a bag of grapes, and some cashews for my afternoon snack.

Dinner tonight, however was fantastic! One of my favorite dishes is tacos! I love tacos A LOT! And I especially love hard tacos! Today as I was driving home contemplating what in the blazes I was going to make for dinner, a thought came to my mind, "What about turkey tacos?" Of course, though, this meant I had to get creative as I couldn't have taco shells, tortillas, salsa, cheese, sour cream, or even tomatoes!

In low carb diets, it is very common for people to substitute lettuce leaves in place of the bun or tortilla or whatever. So, I decided to borrow from this. I turned some iceberg lettuce leaves into taco shells. And I had ground turkey (which personally I have always liked in tacos) and some taco seasoning. The taco seasoning must be purchased from a health food store so you can ensure you are getting natural herbs and spices with no artificial crap. I shop at Sunflower Market where I live and they have some taco seasoning that I just love! It is the Simply Organic Spicy Taco seasoning! This stuff packs a punch but it is so good! So I cooked my turkey with my seasoning.

Cheese is a wonderful thing on tacos, but I can't have cheese, so I had to come up with something else. I also wanted a lettuce substitute as I was using the lettuce for my shells. I also felt like I needed tomatoes, but I can't have tomatoes, so I thought on this while I cooked my meat. For my cheese I shredded some carrots, so it even looked like cheese. It used to be common practice to use carrots for the orange coloring in cheese, so it works. For my lettuce I used red cabbage. It has a similar flavor and shreds nicely. For my tomatoes I settled on black beans. After the meat was done, I pulled out a lettuce leaf, put some meat on it, and then I topped it with my cheese, lettuce, and tomato substitutes. I rolled lettuce up like a burrito and took a bite and it was so delicious! I didn't think it would be, but it was quite good. The taco seasoning is so spicy you really don't need hot sauce or salsa or anything else like that unless you absolutely want it. The lettuce and carrots help keep my mouth cool, but it was still on fire when I got done eating!

Because my mouth was on fire I knew I needed something more than a glass of water to cool my mouth off, so I decided to make a banana smoothie for my dessert. I am addicted to these banana almond milk smoothies! I think they are my new favorite thing! And I freeze the bananas so the frozen banana in the milk makes it taste ice creamy! So, I whipped up a smoothie and to make it a little more fun I added some of the "candied" pecans I made last night for dessert! I put in a fun glass and then put in a bendy straw! Banana heaven it was!

Overall, I am feeling better about this diet today than I was yesterday! I will be taking my taco stuff from tonight and will be turning it into a taco salad for lunch tomorrow! I could eat tacos forever and never get bored so lunch tomorrow will definitely be awesome!

Turkey Taco Meat:

Taco Toppings And "Shells":

Completed Taco Before Rolling:

Banana Almond Milk Smoothie With "Candied" Pecans:

Day 2: Breakfast

For breakfast this morning, I decided to have the last half of my chicken sausage and an orange. I love oranges this time of year! I swear the stores sell us crappy oranges all year but then at Thanksgiving and Christmas, they bring out the best of the best!

I learned how to cook buckwheat yesterday and considering what I learned, I didn't do half bad. I should have toasted the buckwheat though before boiling. I will know this for next time.

For my morning snack I have another banana almond milk smoothie and for lunch I am having leftovers from dinner last night! I had my little protein shake thingy this morning as well. In a few days I will be having this drink twice a day and then three times a day and then I will work back down to once a day. Out of all of the protein shakes or similar I have had this has probably been the best one I have ever had. Most of them I can taste the protein powder and it grosses me out. This one has balanced things out nicely and is very chocolatey, which is my favorite part - chocolate in the morning!

Today is also my first day without any caffeine. I hope I can survive the withdrawals that are sure to follow!

Day 1: Dinner

I must admit I was pretty hungry when I got home from work and eating mainly vegetables sounded extremely unsatisfying and boring to me, so I decided to let the creative juices flow! There may be restrictions in what I can and cannot eat, but that doesn't mean I can't be creative with it.

Thank the heavens above for Rachael Ray's Magazine! Her staff who put together this amazing magazine really do take the time to bring together recipes that anyone can enjoy regardless of their dietary needs, restrictions, or preferences. I was flipping through the December edition when I found a recipe for Roasted Chicken and Carrots. I reviewed all of the ingredients and they were all things I could eat, so I decided to make it for dinner!

While it was only Day 1, I can honestly say that I felt like dinner was a cheat on the diet, but it wasn't. The marinade\sauce that I put on the chicken and carrots was so yummy. It was basically a chili\lemon sauce with garlic! Oh it was heavenly! For anyone who loves garlic, this recipe has a lot of garlic - 16 cloves! That is like a full bulb of garlic! But it is so good!

The only thing I didn't do that I probably should have was split the baby carrots in half. The recipe said to, but for whatever reason I didn't read that part, so I didn't cut them in half. The smaller carrots cooked through just fine and were tender and sweet, but the larger baby carrots were still a little crunchy. Next time I will remember to cut them up first.

Typically after I eat dinner, I always crave something sweet. I looked around and thought about what I could have that would satisfy my sweet tooth. In the group of recipes the doctor gave me there is a recipe for sweet potato mixed in with pecans that have been fixed in vanilla and cinnamon. So I decided to take my pecans I had bought and cover them in vanilla and cinnamon. I then took some peaches and banana and cut them in and put them in a bowl and sprinkled the "candied" pecans on top. The cinnamon made me think I was eating cobbler and then crunchy nuts just added that little texture I like when I sweet things! It was so good and I think the boyfriend liked it too!

So, all in all, I feel like dinner was a big success! I am ready for Day 2!

Roasted Chicken and Carrots:

Peaches, Banana, and "Candied" Pecans:

Day 1: Lunch

I just finished my lunch. Nothing too exciting for lunch: grilled chicken salad with some grapes. I drank water and took my supplements I have to take at lunch. I did end up drinking the smoothie and it was yummy! Up until today I have never found a non-dairy milk replacement that I have liked. I hate soy milk, rice milk - any kind of milk that doesn't come from a cow. But today I had almond milk and it wasn't that bad. I don't think I will be able to drink it by itself but it is okay in stuff. So, I am glad for that as I was really concerned I wouldn't like it.
For my afternoon snack I get to enjoy a baggie filled with raw cashews, raw pumpkin seeds, and raw sunflower seeds. Raw means they have not been roasted or salted. To some reading this that probably sounds disgusting to them, but I personally love raw cashews over the roasted and salted counterparts. I love how cashews are kind of sweet and the raw ones are way sweet! Roasting and salting them takes away from that. I also enjoy the raw sunflower seeds as well because it takes me back to my childhood when I used to go with my sister and we would pull the seeds out of the big sunflowers and eat them. The raw pumpkin seeds also have a very Pumpkin taste to them and I love pumpkin! So my take on raw nuts and seeds - fabulously yummy!
At this point I have not decided what I am going to be eating for dinner, but right now I am leaning towards stuffed peppers with quinoa and pecans and cinnamon for dessert. Check back later for my report!

Day 1: Breakfast

Breakfast has always been a challenge for me since I have been out of college. I would rather sleep that extra ten minutes than get up and prepare breakfast. Needless to say my breakfasts are either really bad for me (stopping somewhere and getting fast food breakfast) or I just don't eat breakfast.

The most important thing in this diet I am on is to eat three meals a day and to have snacks if I get hungry between meals. So, I made sure I got up earlier this morning than I usually do so I could make breakfast. This posed another challenge for me as well -- what was I going to eat that would keep me full for more than a couple of hours? I have a job where I can't just get up and walk away and get something to eat whenever. So, this is one of the reasons breakfast has always been challenging. When I was younger and even in college I would just have cereal, but I could eat basically whenever I wanted, so it didn't bother me to only eat cereal. Cereal doesn't keep me full at all these days. I eat it and an hour later I am starving. I find I have to have a combination of carbs and protein for breakfast. If I just eat protein, I am starving in a couple of hours. This morning definitely presented a challenge for me. This is why I started preparing breakfast ideas last night.

I settled on a half of one of the chicken sausage links I bought this weekend, and some buckwheat cooked and mixed in with some homemade canned peaches. Buckwheat is very interesting. I am not sure if I cooked it right or what, but it has a nutty flavor to it and definitely has a hot cereal\oatmeal feel to it. I don't like plain oatmeal, so I wasn't sure I would like the buckwheat plain, so I mixed in some peaches with it and it made it palatable. The chicken sausage was very spicy, but I loved it! So after drinking a full glass of water with my supplements, my "protein" shake (which is not a meal replacement as I don't drink a lot of it), the sausage, and the buckwheat with peaches I was very full. I packed a banana\almond milk smoothie for my morning snack, but I am still very full and not feeling hungry at all.

I am feeling a little dizzy from the supplements, but I am sure I will adjust to that. As for the bad things - I had to have a Diet Pepsi because I can't work with those headaches. Starting tomorrow I will go caffeine free.

Here is the recipe for the buckwheat and fruit and banana smoothie.

Creamy Buckwheat With Fruit
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of buckwheat
Fresh fruit or canned fruit (if you use store bought, make sure it is no sugar added and in light syrup).

Add the buckwheat and water to a pan. Bring to a rolling boil and then continue to cook for 2-4 minutes until desired creamy consistency. Pour in a bowl and add the fruit and mix it together.


Almond Banana Milk Smoothie
1 Frozen Banana
1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened and unflavored)

Add banana and almond milk to blender or food processor and blend until mixed together.

Again, I will be researching how to cook buckwheat because I don't think I did it right because my cereal looked more like grape nuts than cream 'o' wheat. It was good, just different.

On the menu for lunch: Grilled chicken salad with sesame ginger dressing and grapes. And a baggie of cashews, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds for my afternoon snack. Check back later for the report on that!

New Menus Ahead

So, I have really slacked in my blog as of late! I really don't have an excuse other than I just didn't feel like it. To be honest, I haven't felt like doing much of anything lately. For the last few months I have just felt icky and after I get home from work all I want to do is just be lazy and play with my iPod.

I have been going to the doctors a lot these past few months searching for answers because no one in their twenties should feel like they are a 100 years old! I found a chiropractic physician who seems to know what he is talking about, so I am going to give him a chance. As a result of this treatment, he has put me on a very strict diet. It is the anti-inflammatory diet, so there is a lot of things that I cannot eat.

So I am going to be using this blog to post the new recipes I am having to learn out of plain necessity. This strict diet will be lasting three weeks only. I started today.

Basically here is the run down of the diet. These are the foods I cannot eat: dairy, eggs, gluten, tomatoes, corn, peanuts, soy, beef, pork (in all of its forms), canned meat, coldcuts, rice, potatoes (except for sweet potatoes), shellfish, dried fruit, fruit juices (unless I make them from the fresh fruit myself and don't anything else to them) caffeine, soda, and sugar and other artificial sweeteners.

The foods I can eat are: Fresh fruits and veggies (except for tomatoes and soy), peas, legumes and beans of any kind (except edamame which is soy), raw nuts (except for peanuts), fish (except for shellfish), turkey, chicken, lamb, water, herbs, sweet potatoes, spices, herbal teas, buckwheat, quinoa, and almond milk.

So looking at the lists above it probably seems like there are more foods that I cannot eat than I can eat. I enjoy chicken and I like a lot of fruit and veggies, so I know I will be able to survive. There are a few things on the CAN EAT list that I have never had before, so I am looking at this as an opportunity to try new foods. And there is also a variety out there so I will be getting all of the nutrition my body needs, so if anyone was worried about that, I am good.

I addition to this diet, the doctor also has me on some supplements and a "protein" shake. So I will be getting the additional nutrients that I may not get from some of the foods I am permitted to eat. My biggest challenge is going to be no caffeine. I usually drink at least one 20 oz. Diet Pepsi at work every day. I know I can do it - I am just not looking forward to the headaches and withdrawals.

Now you know what I am being faced with for the next few weeks and in the months to come. I am thankful I can have turkey cause if not I don't know what I would do this coming Thanksgiving!