30 Day Paleo Transformation

So today is the day I have been waiting for.

I have felt myself getting sicker and sicker, letting the PCOS take over my body, eating crap and treating it poorly  and not eve really caring.

Part of it was due to a very busy tax season this year. I was giver more work than I am typically given (which I loved by the way) and therefore had to work longer hours most days, which also led to me driving to and from work everyday.

I survived primarily on coffee, fast food and munchies.

It wasn't good...

By the end of April I was begging for a change. I felt horrible, I had no energy, and all the previous weight loss I had achieved was now gone...

My husband and I agree it was time for a reset, a 30 day transformation process, similar to the one Robb Wolf created, where we clean out the body and start from scratch again. We had done this before and it has worked very well.

The first week is the killer...

Sunday we woke up, bought our last cups of coffee (at least for 30 days) weighed ourselves, took some measurements, and made a food plan and shopping list.

I knew my biggest challenges were going to be breakfasts and lunches. I can get pretty lazy and not want to make anything the night before or morning of, so I specifically looked for things I could make in advance and just take with me.

After our shopping trip I set about preparing as much for the week ahead of time as I could.

Strawberries and Blueberries

Egg Muffins

Breakfast, Day 1

My sister (who lives in my basement currently) was a huge help. I also prepared some tuna salad for lunch which my sister chopped up some cucumber and bell peppers for snacking.

Lunch, Day 1

So let's do this thing! Let's eat healthy! Let's feel healthy! Let's BE healthy!

Weekend Warrior

This week’s Weekend Warrior recipe is homemade honey peanut granola. I love this recipe, and I’ll tell you why. Most granola has horrible bits of dried fruit and/or raisins in it. I’m not really a big fan of those items. I like oats and nuts, and that’s pretty much it for me, so when I found this recipe I rejoiced!

Honey Peanut Granola

3 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup chopped (smushed in my case) raw peanuts

1/4 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)

2 tablespoons warm water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or regular salt if you prefer)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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1) Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet (unless you are using a non-stick pan).

2) In a large bowl, combine oats, peanuts, sunflower seeds and wheat germ. If your peanuts are not chopped place in Ziploc bag and smush with rolling pin or other suck item. (Great for relieving stress!)

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3) In a separate bowl, combine honey, brown sugar, oil, water, salt, and vanilla. Stir well; then pour into the oat mixture, and stir. Spread out on a cookie sheet.

4) Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool before serving.

Voila!

We like to keep ours in one of the large heavy duty Ziploc bags and just refill it every week or so. We use it in our yogurt or fruit parfait. It is so good it can even be eaten by itself as cereal or a crunchy munchy snack. And the best part? The boy loves to help make this so it’s great mommy-son bonding time. Just look at that happy child mixing away!

Estimated Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Calories: 428
Total Fat: 18.2g
Sodium: 202mg
Total Carbs: 60.1g
Dietary Fiber: 5.7g
Protein: 9.4g

Weekend Warrior

I have such a busy work week schedule that I am usually only able to do the things I really enjoy on weekends. I am going to try to share these things in weekly posts that will be marked as "Weekend Warrior".

One of the things I really enjoy doing is cooking and baking. I work in downtown Toronto from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and am therefore usually not home until around 7:00 p.m. (if the transit system behaves normally). Due to that fact, I rarely get to cook, or even help out with dinner during the week. This means that one weekends I usually go out of my way to make at least one special meal that my other half would never bother with.

This weekend I made a family favourite, healthy sloppy joes.

The basis of this recipe came from the following book:



I love this book! I love Dr. Joey. I did the five day cleanse listed in this book and lost over 5 pounds in the five days. It was really tough though.

But anyhow, the sloppy joes...

Health Sloppy Joes

*We always make a double so we have left overs for lunches and quick snacks, so feel free to half the recipe if you only want to make enough for one meal.

2 500 gram packages of lean ground turkey (can substitute chicken, beef or veggie ground)
1 28 ounce tin of crushed tomatoes
1 5.5 ounce tin of tomato paste (we use the one with garlic)
1 onion (we use a red onion for the antioxidant)
2tsp chili powder
1tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
4tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1tsp butter (or oil of choice for frying)

1) Peel and dice the onion and cook in a non-stick pan until lightly browned (using the butter or oil).

2) Add lean ground product of choice and fry together until cooked well.



3) Combine all other ingredients and simmer until heated throughout. (Can use whole grain flour to thicken if necessary but I never add it.)



4) Serve the mixture as you see fit. Common choices are on bread, buns, or I really like it on pitas with some shredded marble goat cheese and wrapped up like a burrito. It's also good enough to eat on it's own!



Enjoy!

***

Books Read for 2010 Updated here.