Carnivore - My Experience

If you have been following certain blogger's and social media you may have heard about the Carnivore diet.  If you haven't, that's OK.  I'll fill you in!  It's simple really - you eat products only from an animal - no not chicken nuggets! (LOL)  No spices, no condiments.  You eat eggs in butter, bacon, fish, beef, etc.  Now if you love meat, you may be thinking, "This sounds awesome!"  I know I was.  I mean, after all, I was eating meat for breakfast and lunch with some sort of dressing.  Be it either sriracha or mayo, etc.  I would maybe add some veggies with lunch, but generally with dinner.  Since I was already almost there I figured I could try it for 7 days after listening to Shawn Mynar's podcast, Keto for Women, that you can listen to here.  There are several others in the keto community that have tried carnivore, including, Vivica Menegaz of the Nourished Caveman, her week one is here, and Dr. Anthony Gustin, his recap is here.

*Just as a FYI, I am writing this as I go throughout the experiment (except for the first 2 days), so if my mind set changes or something flows odd you've been warned.  I also want to point out that it can be a lot of  meat and fat.  Highly suggesting a variety of meats at every meal.

Here we go!

Day 1 - Sunday

Kind of exciting to start something new!  My day went pretty typical for a Sunday.  I went to Whole Foods (weekly grocery shopping) and got a coffee to drink as I went about the parameter of the store.  My cart was filled with mostly meats, eggs and a few things for D.  Afterward, I headed to Birmingham's Farmers Market just outside of the downtown.  Whole Foods didn't have a few meats with a high animal rating so I was going to stop at Trillium Farms tent to see what they had.  The 2 things I wanted she had!  Flank steak and pork sausage patties.  I posted some early morning market pictures on Instagram here before the crowds came.  I love to get there right when they open, up front parking!  Not that I wouldn't mind walking, just it's nice when you want to run through and get out.  I stopped on my way home to Dunkin to get D his iced coffee, nice that it's not even a half mile from home.  My first official meal for my carnivore experience, breakfast?  I naturally had bacon and eggs!  I decided to poach my eggs (Vital Farms, non-GMO/Organic) and then to get some added fat, besides the bacon (Natures Rancher no sugar) was some Kerrygold butter.  It was delish!

I did have some more coffee, I'm addicted I know, I added some Vital Protein collagen.

 Breakfast sounds like an ad, doesn't it?!?  I love the products I use and want to support them in anyway I can.

Around 12:30, I went to the gym and had a decent lifting workout.  I even ran for about 20 minutes, as I usually do on Sunday.  I didn't have any lunch because I still felt pretty satisfied from breakfast!  I was looking forward to dinner though, BBQ!!

I picked up Woodpile, which is a local BBQ in Clawson.  The best local BBQ, in my opinion.  I always get the pulled pork and fatty brisket.  SO GOOD!!  I got a couple sides, but saved those for D for later in the week.  I was really hungry and didn't take a pic, but I have posted from there before.  I'm hoping to eat there again this coming weekend, hint hint!

My energy levels were good and I actually had a normal bm.  If you know me, I am chronically constipated.  Irritating to say the least!😒

Day 2 - Monday

Coffee with collagen and breakfast in hand, I got to work just before 2 am (as usual).  After I get set up for the morning I grab my coffee and sip on it for a couple hours (it's typically iced coffee) and eat breakfast around 5-ish.  I mentioned that I stopped at Trillium Farms and picked up some pork sausage patties for the week.  I cooked them all on Sunday so I didn't need to worry about trying to cook up raw patties before heading to work.  This morning, I paired 2 patties with a hard boiled egg.  I clearly didn't bring enough food for the morning, but felt satisfied.  After work, I went to the gym, which is around 9:30, my work out was good and energy level was great.  By the time I got home I was super hungry! I was so happy to have leftover BBQ and even ate D's (sorry but not really!), that was about 11:30/12.  I wasn't hungry again until about 5:30, around my normal time.

How can you go wrong with this dinner?!?  Well, I guess depending on your likes and dislikes.  My best said no to the ham!  All good.  I continued the egg since I already had one in the morning.  Overall, today I felt really good and my sleep has been uninterrupted.

Day 3 - Tuesday (sorry, no pics! - boring food)

Another work day and more sausages!  I had 3 this morning and the remaining 2 slices of ham with my coffee and collagen.  Shortly after finishing breakfast, I just thought, blah, kinda over the pork sausage.  Already?!  I'm use to having mayo on everything in the morning.  My energy level was good though and I had a good workout after work.  On Tuesdays, I spin for 45 minutes and then run for 3 miles.  I wasn't super hungry right away, which is pretty typical for me after an endurance session, so I delayed my lunch an hour.  I had a 5 ounce hamburger that was left over from last night and 3 pieces of bacon.  I also had coffee with heavy cream, which I typically will avoid dairy since it doesn't sit me with very well.  I had to run out shortly after lunch and ended up having a everyone out moment.  I'm pretty sure that it was the heavy cream that caused it, lesson number 1.  I also didn't feel the best, stomach wise the rest of the day.  I should mention that while I was out I really wanted something, but I wasn't sure what.  My thoughts were that all I can have is meat and I really don't want meat, so I let it go.  I did pick up a cold brew though, not carnivore at all, along with coffee, but I wasn't giving it up.  I should also be drinking more water, and I have been, just not enough as usual.  But, I certainly needed something different.  I finally got hungry for dinner around 6:00 pm and ate just over 10 ounces of pork kielbasa.  I sliced it and cooked it in a cast iron pan in coconut oil and butter.  I ate half of it first and waited about 30 minutes till having the rest, I wanted to make sure I was truly still hungry.  I find that my satiety indicator is pretty slow and if I wait about 30 minutes before eating anything else I can tell if I truly need more or not.

Day 4 -Wednesday

So close I can taste it.  I can make this happen!  I slept more soundly last night then I have in awhile.  I didn't want to get up at 6:30 when D's alarm went off.  It's my day off but still had plenty to accomplish.  I wasn't hungry at all when I awoke and was a little sleepy.  I went out for coffee and doctored mine up with collagen.  I got D off to work, fed the animals and went to the gym.  I'm not really sure if I just wasn't up long enough or if I was still feeling the haze of my deep sleep but I certainly didn't feel strong today.  My workout was mediocre at best.  Once I finished I needed to run a few errands and still wasn't hungry.  I thought it was interesting.  It was probably right around 11 that I wanted to eat, that was a 16 hour fast.  Pretty amazing!  Except I wasn't feeling the best.  Energy felt good but my stomach wanted nothing to do with meat in general.  If I could have gotten away with not eating I probably would have.

I need a different texture and decided I was going to have eggs for brunch.  I made an omelette with leftover pulled chicken I made made the other night in the instant pot.  It was a nice change in texture and flavor.  It wasn't super filling but again I didn't know what else to have.  But a couple hours later, after my conference call I had some liverwurst.  It was fine but nothing super great.  In the meantime, I was making chicken thighs and a lonely short rib for the rest of the week.  Once it was cooked I did have a few bites of the chicken.  I was feeling hungrier now, so I may have to make an earlier dinner, which is going to be a pork chop and my lonely beef short rib.  Neither tasted that great and my stomach was just not having anymore of it.  I was feeling nauseous and just not great in general, it only seemed to be getting worse as the day progressed.

It's a little small but the above is my macros for the day.

I gave up that night!  It wouldn't have been wise for me to continue my experiment into carnivore until Saturday as I had planned.  I took some Bentonite clay to help ease my stomach, which helped a great deal, then I had a couple potato chips and peanut butter.  I felt even better.

I went to bed and Thursday morning I was feeling pretty good.  I still had pork sausages, 3 in fact, that I had for breakfast with some mayo.  Even though it was meat, the accompanied condiment put my stomach more at ease.  By the end of Thursday and my normal low carb eating I was feeling myself.

The hubs thought this was a foolish thing to try.  It was only going to be a week anyway, I had no plans of taking it longer unless I was feeling totally amazing, which I wasn't.  I honestly don't think there was I could have adapted to make me feel better.  This eating style just clearly wasn't for me.  I do believe and many other out there that have tried this style themselves have mentioned if their client wanted to try it or asked their opinion of it they needed to experience it themselves.  I believe the same.  Would I recommend it?  It's grey area, I would try other healthy lifestyle and dietary changes first based on the individuals needs.

Go back to the beginning - There is no weight loss pill (SORRY!)

What if I told you that you would never have to diet again?  That when you think of the word "diet" it has zero reference to weight loss.  Are you shocked?  You shouldn't be, but then again we have been told for decades that we need this weight loss pill, or this highly restrictive, zero fat weight loss plan. We are told that this highly processed food or pill, will result in astounding physical transformation.  Well, you can't have weight loss and highly processed, chemical laden, zero fat cookies, or anything like that.  The human body knows when it is not fed a proper diet (as in real food).  It will try to fight back.  Signs that your body doesn't like what you are putting into can be: heartburn, improper digestion, constipation, inflammation and a general ill feeling.

If you have been in the Paleo world you probably have heard of Jason Sieb.  If not, you should check out his site here.  I was listening to his podcast - AltShift (fabulous program BTW) and he said something along the line of "You can have sustainable weight loss or YUM".  Think about that for a second.  Now, I am not stating that all your food should be bland, not even close.  What I am saying is, if you want to fix your body that "yum" may not be in the equation.  What do I mean by "yum"?  I'm talking about highly refined treats and foods.  Pre-made frozen meals, high amounts of carbs from sugar, candy, and chocolate with more ingredients than you can read or even pronounced.  Now, I do believe in having a treat, maybe once a week, if your body is in homeostasis (you feel great!).  BUT, until you get there I would advise leaving "yum" alone until your body can handle it.  Then again, maybe once you get there your idea of yum will be totally different than once it was.  My idea of yum is bbq fatty brisket, bacon and eggs, Primal Kitchen's avocado mayonnaise, and avocado.

Why haven't you lost that weight you are so desperately trying to get rid of?  What's the real reason you fail to start, or you start and then that one bite of something (cupcake?!?) that throws you off and you forget the whole eating "healthy" thing.  Do you even know how to start or pick it back up?  Do you think you have to starve?!  Have you followed every diet out there and just gained everything back?  Do you have a medical condition that you are having trouble managing and it's throwing your weight all over the place?  I get it!

It's more simple than what you may think.  But there's no magic pill.  There never has been.  Americans are getting fatter and sicker by the year.  Here are some stats from the CDC.  Why?  Simple, food manufacturing.  Here is an article from NBC News on the highly processed foods and cancer.  We "create" food's, GMO's, we don't grow them.  It's sad to say.  Registered Dietitian Diana Rodgers writes a fabulous article here about diets and foods (from 2017).  

The next time you go to the grocery store, pick up a random item and read the ingredients.  Can you pronounce everything listed?  Do you know what every ingredient that is list is?  Pick a random one and look it up.  Need more help with what something is?  There are also a lot of food/allergy apps out there and they show you what foods to avoid when shopping (great for newbies!).

So, what do you eat?!  How do you finally lose the weight you want and not starve yourself?  Well, it's very individual.  What works for what person may not work for the next person.  What I can say for sure is that eating a properly prepared whole food diet is where you want to start.  This I have known for a long time and it has been shown to be true time and time again in the paleo/primal/low carb sphere and further cemented by the Nutritional Therapy Association where I have been doing my training (as you already know).  

If you want to read other points of view you can read one here from WebMD, here, and here from Chris Kresser, and one from The Paleo Mom, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne with the scientific studies here.  The proper amounts of protein, fats and, carbohydrates again are all bio individual. Some will do better with higher fat and moderate protein.  Others will do best on a keto version with lower carbohydrates.  You can again head over to The Nourished Caveman's site or Maria Emmerich's site for more information on the Keto diet.  I guarantee that it will change.  What works for you now may not work for you 6 months from now.

For me at this current time, carnivore-ish, is working for me.  I'm about 95% carnivore, which means I eat meat.  The other 5% is coffee, avocado and nut butter (my favs!).  I find that I don't need to eat as often but ONLY if I eat enough protein and fat.  To read more on carnivore you can head over to Dr. Anthony Gustin and his views here.  The Nourished Caveman (Vivica Menegaz) talks about her experience (7 weeks) here.

I never gave you the answer to "How to lose weight" because there is no magic pill and no one way of eating.  You have to go back to the beginning.  What's the beginning?  As I stated above, whole foods that are properly prepared, like our grandparents ate or maybe great grandparents at this point (I'm older!).  No need to drastically cut calories or be at the gym 3 hours everyday.  Sure those may be able to help you in the beginning, but you don't even need to go there.  They will only set you up for failure.

You can contact me about how you can look better, feel better and have a happier, healthier life without the word "diet" coming into play.  Manage symptoms better from other conditions.  I can't diagnose or treat disease but I can help you feel your best!  

I would love for you to comment on this post about your struggles and what you have tried and also if you have any conditions that have hindered you from achieving your healthiest life.

Hydration - Are you drinking enough?

Next in the series of posts is my hot button - HYDRATION!  I am one of those people that just doesn't like water.  I know, it's bizarre but I have met a few people that don't like it either, but it's rare.  I'm a work in progress, so I'm trying.

Here are a few things that D and I drink.  Somethings are daily and some are maybe once a week or even a few sips every day.  Electrolytes are at the top of our daily beverages as well as iced coffees (summertime!).  I love sparkling flavored water and mineral waters.  As my splurge, I will have coconut water.  This one happens to be chocolate, I was encouraged to try it and it tastes just like chocolate milk. 

We can't forget that we do get some water from our foods as well.  More so from unprocessed whole foods.  I just made this smoothie bowl which has blue/green algae, avocado and vanilla protein powder.  Not only am I getting fats and proteins but I am getting some hydration in as well.  I usually have consumed coffee in the morning, which depending on your body, can be a diuretic.  What does that mean, isn't coffee made with water?!  Yes, it is, but caffeine can negate the benefit of water and can deplete your hydration levels.  It's best to add more water to your daily consumption based on your coffee or caffeine consumption.

What are the benefits of drinking the proper amount of water for you and what is the proper amount?

Water is the most important nutrient in the body making up approximately 55 to 60% of our total mass.  We can go for weeks without food but only days without water.

Benefits include:

delivering oxygen

transporting nutrients

easier breathing

absorbs shock

regulates body temperature

removes wastes

aids in healing

We produce 8% through metabolic processes and we need to consume 92% through drinking and eating.  That is a significant amount if you ask me!  Amy Kubal wrote a great article that you can read here from Robb Wolf's site.

DEHYDRATION!!

It's bigger than what you think.  You could be dehydrated right now.  I know you are saying you aren't thirsty, so you're not dehydrated, right?!  Not so fast.  Remember above, we need to consume 92% from food and beverages.  I barely drink right now, so I rely on food.  That's a lot of food to consume for that big percentage.  I'm not thirsty right now, but I bet I'm dehydrated.

If we are dehydrated it can cause fatigue.  So if you are sleepy right now reading this, go have some water and let me know how you feel after.  It can cause health problems such as digestive issues, cardiovascular, immune and musculoskeletal.  So basically every part of your body can have an issue by just not drinking enough water!  So, what am I doing right now?

DRINKING WATER!

I have a Berkey water filtration system, so I know my water is good for me.  Stay away from bottled water as the plastics can leach into the water.  If you want bottled than stick to glass or invest in a good quality non-plastic bottle (NO STRAW EITHER, unless its metal)

I also like to drink out of random glasses, mugs and jugs! Ha ha!

So what are the proper guidelines?  As a base, the amount you should consume in ounces is your body weight (in lbs) divided by 2.  I should be drinking about 60 ounces.  I roughly weigh 120 lbs.  Now you might be better off with a little more or a little less depending on your activities and the other beverages (non-caffeinated) you drink.  You can click here to take you to a handy calculator to see what the proper ratio could be for you.  If you would like to see when you should take in more water, you can read that here.

This isn't a long post but just a reminder to drink more water.  Sip it throughout the day, still, drink your coffee or tea and then get back to the water.

I am on day 3 of drinking more and I am noticing digestive improvements!  Yay!  I'm also generally feeling pretty good.  I drink mine with a couple pinches of Himalayan sea salt.  Getting those minerals in too!

How are you making sure you are drinking enough water?  What tips would you give to someone who is less than excited to drink it?

Digestion - What Goes Wrong and Why It's Important to Fix

As an NTP (nutritional therapy practitioner), the Nutritional Therapy Association teaches us some of the most important areas to optimize health, a series of pillars.  Today, I will be discussing the most important pillar and sharing my thoughts as well as the viewpoints of others in the Paleo, Keto and Primal/Ancestral Health communities.

(Dr. Axe Leaky Gut)

In this post, I am talking about digestion.  It's not something we think about on a daily basis unless we have an issue.  We eat, we get full, we get hungry and we repeat until something feels wrong.  Our digestive system has many functions, under optimal health those are:

     *Ingestion (Eating our Food)
     *Secretion (Gastric Juices)
     *Mixing (Churning in the Stomach, etc)
     *Digestion (Breakdown)
     *Absorption (Nutrients!)
     *Defecation (Pretty, I know!)

EVERY organ depends on our digestive system to work properly for the rest of the body to work properly.  The most common complaint about our digestion is "heartburn" or an "upset" stomach. We don't give much thought to when we pop a pill to "remedy" these issues.  We all are under the impression that bloating, gassiness, belching are all a normal part of what happens after a meal.  Shocked if I told you that those reactions are the bodies way of telling you there is something wrong?!  Tis true my friends! There are many signs we are out of balance, bloating from being stressed while we eat and gulping our food down.  This is just another good reason to sit down away from distractions (yes, that includes, television, cell phones, computers) and chew your food slowly.  Not just 5 bites and swallow.  I mean chewing until there is nothing to chew anymore.  Imbalance of your gut microbiota, gluten, irritating food additives, GMO's, and just plain eating too much.  Let's not forget about low stomach acid either.  Here is a post from Dr. Sara Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom entitled The Stomach Acid Connect.  In this article, she explains why low stomach acid is a problem, even if you are following a clean diet.

Let's back up for a minute.  Let's review how digestion begins.  Would you think I was crazy telling you it begins in our brains?!  Some are saying yes it's crazy, it's OK!  Digestion starts when we see and smell food.  Our brain registers these senses and you notice you start to salivate.  We take a bite of food and thus begins the chemical breakdown of our food.  The breakdown of carbohydrates begins in the mouth with the enzyme, salivary amylase.  Once swallowed the stomach breaks down food even further with HCL (Hydrochloric acid) and pepsinogen.  Let's stop here for a second.  You have eaten some food and get heartburn.  Too much stomach acid you say, that's what everyone says.  I need a Tums!  On the contrary!  You need more acid.  Very few people have too much (90% have too little -Hypochlorhydria) and I have never run into a gastroenterologist that will test the levels of HCL in the stomach.

OK, let's get back to it.  Our stomach is designed for acid, around 0.8 pH (normal is between 1.5 and 3.0).  The role of acid is to do the following:

     *Disinfects
     *Kills Bacteria and Parasites
     *Activates Pepsin, to digest proteins
     *Stimulates gastrin

Can I point out something here?  KILLS BACTERIA AND PARASITES.  Now, if a majority of people have low stomach acid (90%), doesn't that mean we are letting bacteria and parasites enter our body.  Scary stuff here!  Let's continue moving south and the small intestine and those fabulous accessory organs; the liver and the gallbladder.  As our now digested food (chyme) enters the small intestine (through the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum), mucus is secreted to coat the chyme since that content is pretty acidic still at 1.5 to 3.0 pH.  Two hormones are secreted as well, Secretin and CCK (Cholecystokinin).  The secretin stimulates the pancreas to release bicarbonate (raise the pH) and pancreatic juices (complete breakdown of proteins, carbs, and fats), while the CCK stimulates the gallbladder and releases bile (break down fats).  Whatever is left is now passed down to the large intestine.  There are a few things that are supposed to happen here under perfect conditions:

    *Recycle water
    *Recycle waste
    *Grab any leftover nutrients
    *Removes waste

Perfect conditions with the elimination of wastes.  Hey, everybody poops so there is no need to be shy here!

The BIG issue now is the dysfunction that happens.  I can't say I have yet to meet someone with perfect digestion.  Does it even exist?!  I wonder now as I write this.  Just as proper digestion begins in the north (brain) dysfunction also begins there as well.  It starts with that fact that we are chronically stressed and always in a hurry!  Stress comes in so many forms!  We think we have it under control, but take a look at that picture below, looks familiar, doesn't it?  We eat food in a rushed, stressed out state, we barely even chew.  Our brain has zero opportunity to respond to what we are doing.  How can our body process this hardly digested food?  We have little to no breakdown of carbs (saliva in our mouths), we have undigested particles entering our colon which begins to create a dysbiosis down the digestion tract and feeds candida (under perfect conditions candida is ok).  Our stressed-out state affects our acid production in our stomach.  Factors that inhibit production:

     *Stress
     *Excess carb consumption
     *Nutrient deficiencies
     *Allergies
     *Excess alcohol consumption

So, back to that bold state above.  Our defenses against bacteria and pathogens are severely compromised.  How about GERD (reflux).  Here is a recent article from Nutrition Review on Gastric Balance: Heartburn Not Always Caused by Excess Acid.  Symptoms and complications are many as a result.  Treatment can begin with natural remedies, but few know about.  The undigested foods come back into our esophagus and cause that burning sensation, our esophagus is not designed to withstand the acid in our stomachs.  This is the point we reach for the Tums or another similar antacid blocker.  This is the beginning of our carbs fermenting and, proteins rancifying along with fats.  Why are we under the guise that these are miracle work?  Because that is what the commercials told us!

These acid blockers neutralize the acid in the stomach so when the reflux happens there is no "burn" because the acid is neutralized.  However, this is not a good solution.  Why?  The now partially digested food in your stomach is too alkaline and the pyloric sphincter doesn't want this food to pass.  So it sits in the stomach and rots and bacterial infections begin, the pancreas doesn't get to do its job to neutralize the acid since no acid exists.  The gallbladder begins it's dysfunction too because there is too little acid.  This can also happen when diets are low in fat too (keep that in mind).  The bile is not released and becomes viscous and then is unable to be released.  Rancid food continues through the digestive system and impacts the villi of the small intestines.  This is where leaky gut happens.  Undigested proteins and fats pass through the gut and overwhelm the immune system.  Even food that is good for us can impact us negatively if we have a leaky gut.  To read other's viewpoint on leaky gut, check out Diane Sanfilippo's post from 2010 - Is Your Gut Leaky?   Then head on over to Sarah Ballantyne - aka The Paleo Mom and check out her post - What Is A Leaky Gut?  The most in-depth article is on Robb Wolf's site with a guest post written by Carolyn Dolan titled - Could Leaky Gut be the Hidden Cause of Your Health Problems?  In the large intestine, these undigested food particles disrupt the healthy flora that is living there.  Can we say candida overgrowth?!  This leaves the colon to inflammation, diverticulitis and other serious conditions, such as (so much more than this!):

     *Irritable Bowel Syndrome
     *Crohn's Disease
     *Colitis
     *Celiac Disease

With all this new knowledge you may be asking how do you heal a leaky gut or how do you avoid getting leaky gut in the first place?  The Weston A. Price Foundation has a great write up on How To Restore Digestive Health.  The write up is from 2004 and the economic stats for treating leaky gut are astounding and I'm sure by now those numbers have at least double, maybe more.

How have I treated my leaky gut and consequential autoimmune condition - Hashimoto's?  It's a continual work in progress.  The first thing is to remove grains, gluten, industrial oils (vegetable, soy, corn etc.) and dairy from the diet.  Gluten-free grains could be added in later depending on the condition.  You can certainly heal, but you can't just go hog wild either once you do and eat things you once did.  You have to maintain it.  Testing for food allergies is a great place to start, BUT you won't always test positive for everything (Test don't guess).  I know it sounds odd, but it's true.  I find I can only eat nuts and peanuts a couple times a week otherwise my face breaks out.  But I don't test positive on an allergy test.  I also have issues with dairy, eggs, bananas and fermented foods.  But, your face breaking out has nothing to do with your digestion!  Think again.  Your skin is the largest organ and if there is an issue that could be one of the first places it shows up.  It can also show up as belching, bloating, etc..... see the big picture now?  There are supplements that can be added to help things along, but it's not a one size fits all, everyone is going to be different.

You can contact me by DM to go into some more details because everyone is completely different in their healing process like I have mentioned.  I wish I could tell you that it's a simple fix, but it does require dedication and work.  I have had many people contact me on how to restore their health and I hope you do too.  This is just a small dive into the digestive system and I could go on.  Let me know your thoughts and if this information has helped and how I can assist you in your journey to health.

Cheers!



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Wednesday Day 3

Wow!  I think that is all I can say today! It's been such a busy day and I hardly got anything done.  The day started as usual.  Got up, fed the animals and had my protein shake.  I decided to do some baking first before heading to the gym.  I was still to the gym pretty early with enough time to go to Whole Foods and fix lunch before my conference call at noon.  Before I left I did try this Matcha Latte from Rebbl.  It was subtle and just slightly sweet.

I got home and fixed chicken, mushroom, and kale soup.  

It was really filling and took me a while to eat.  Of course, I was multi-tasking.  I was on my conference call, talking to a mortgage company and eating!  I used my leftover chicken, added onion, mushrooms and kale and then simmered that in Kettle and Fire chicken mushroom bone broth.  

After I got done with my calls.  I had more baking to do and I'm proud to say I didn't sample anything!  I had a few more things to do around the house and still had school work to do.

Our house went up live today and we already have 8 showings!  6 are tomorrow and I have so much to do.  Needless to say my anxiety is up!  We had a showing tonight so it was a good thing I a few errands I could run with the dogs.

I finally got to eat after 7:30!

2 zucchini's spiralized with yesterday's turmeric turkey and a little coconut oil mayo for some flavor.  It was great, so glad I made it.  I topped the night off with 2 AIP carob cherry cookies.

It's late and still lots to do!  Until tomorrow!

Tuesday Day 2 - Elimination Challenge continues

I was woken suddenly at 1am by a Felix kitty getting spooked and jumping straight up from the bed and then taking off.  I have no clue what was going on but when he got back in bed he refused to lay on the sheets and chose a pillow.  I was in a sleep/wake pattern until 4:30!

But this face is SO darn cute I just can't take it!  

But moving on!  I had my typical breakfast - protein shake and a few sips of my leftover chai latte from Biggby.  I felt fine all morning.  No bloating, nothing weird.  Winning!

That brings me to lunch and eating the remainder of the roasted cauliflower I had from last week.  I hate to waste so I figured I would just go ahead and eat it and see what would happen.  Bloating!  Though not as bad.  So this was last night's leftovers.  Roasted root vegetables, a little bit of chicken.  I did add a couple spoonfuls of bacon jam I had just made too.  I also had a matcha latte at work.  I made myself so I could control the amount of matcha that went in, it was just right!  

I made my way home and got a call from the photographer for our house listing.  He was coming in 10 minutes!  Yikes.  I quickly put things away and moved items around so our house looked good.  Here's hoping they came out well!

I needed to get school work done but still haven't in the past 4 days!  I did finish up my own data that I am sharing with another student in the NTA program.  We are going to interview each other which should be a lot of fun.  Tomorrow I will have most of the day for studying.  I'm not behind, but want to be further ahead.

So after all that I decided to make dinner since it was going to take a little bit.  Real Plans again!  Though I wasn't wild about the taste and I doubt I will make it again unless I change up the seasonings.  Turmeric Turkey Cabbage Rolls and Sauteed Collard Greens.  The collards were fantastic, just coconut oil and salt.

Sadly, bloated again and I ended up eating 3 of these and the meat out of a 4th.  It's packed with carrots and onions.  It's really not a big deal.  Tomorrow I plan on pitching the cabbage (ugh!) and re purposing the turkey.  Stay tuned for that!  I'm going to read.  Till tomorrow!

Monday Day 1 - Back to the elimination phase!

I totally have a rebel tendency (Gretchen Rubin) as I have said before.  I have to be challenged that I can't do something so I can prove I can.  I asked my bestie to tell me she didn't think I could do the elimination again as I desperately needed to.  My gut is off (bloated, gassy), my face is broken out, my anxiety is up!  I'm a hot mess, not where I was over a year ago but I know I can be better.  I need and want to put my symptoms into remission!  So here I am diving back into an elimination.  I am so lucky to have Real Plans because I would hate to have to plan out every meal.  I already feel stretched between work and school and the amount of practice clients I have taken on so this is one less thing to worry about.  To top of the stress and anxiety level we are putting our house back on the market!  I love this house but there are things that I want that won't happen here.  The biggest thing is a bigger open kitchen.

So how is my Monday the first day back into it working out?  UGH!!  Jack woke me up at 2 am throwing up in the corner of the bedroom.  I so would have left it until later but it stunk.  I know why would I leave it?!  It was 2am!  I so didn't want to get up, but I did.  I let him outside while I cleaned everything up.  He came in like nothing happened and we went back to bed.  Then starting around 4 or 5 the cats began to come in to jump all over me to get up and fed them.  Easier to resist and I got up with D's alarm at 6:30.

Everyone was fed by 6:45 and I was on to make my breakfast.  I'm keeping it as it is since it's clean and I have no issues with what's in it.

Equip Foods Prime Protein, collagen, pea protein milk (or coconut), maca and a whole small avocado.  The avocado give the protein shake the perfect thickness!  I love it.  I'm also giving up coffee and going with matcha tea lattes.  I had one leftover from Saturday at Starbucks so I had the rest of that one and planned on trying one at Whole Foods later.

I got to the gym around 8:30 and was out around 9:30.  I like quick workouts specially when they are efficient!  I had a ton of errands to do - Costco, drop of groceries from Costco to work, Whole Foods, Target, Kroger and the Post Office.  I finally got home just after 12:15 and was starving.  I was smart with my spiralized zucchini noodles because this lunch came together quick!

Zucchini noodles, 4 strips of bacon and some Kettle and Fire chicken mushroom bone broth.  It was good but I needed more and had a tablespoon of coconut butter.  Exhaustion fell over me pretty quickly as it normally does in the afternoon - thank you adrenal fatigue!  I had some time before my appointment with the realtor so I laid down on the couch and had a cute face that down with me.

He is just too cute!  I just love that face and he just loves to rub his face on mine and give lots of kisses.  After the realtor I headed to Vitamin Shoppe for some probiotics.  I got home to shower and start a load of laundry.  By the time I sat down to even try to be even more productive it was time to start making dinner.

Tonight's dinner was roasted chicken and root vegetables.  I really should have taken a before picture of the chicken since I butchered the crap out of it.  D got home and was hungry so I just started to rip it apart.  The vegetables are carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, and golden beets.  I ended up eating a little more chicken when I was de-boning the rest of it for lunch later this week (and tomorrow).

Dessert was an (2!) AIP carob cherry cookie.  Really good and I wonder how the carbs will hit me.  Dependin on the carb source I can end up being really hungry.  But, so far so good!

Now I am going to chill and watch DC's Legend's of Tomorrow.  I just started watching it and I'm hooked.