Soup Sunday: Chili Edition

It has been a strange week, weather-wise with fluctuating temperatures and not quite knowing when to wear your jacket.

It wasn’t quite soup weather at the beginning of the week so I didn’t make anything until the end of the week.

I didn’t make a new recipe, but I did make changes to an old recipe.

I made chili from the Whole 30 book – one of my all-time favourites. It’s beanless, so I thought it might qualify for Soup Sunday.

Unfortunately I can’t post the recipe due to copyright, but I will tell you the recipe calls for: onion, garlic, lean ground beef, bell peppers, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and mustard powder with salt and pepper, and beef broth.

Typically when I make this recipe, I double, sometimes triple the amount of chili powder, paprika, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and cumin for extra flavour.

This time when I made it, I also added a jalapeño pepper, cored and diced. This added a bit of spice to eat bite which I loved. I also added a few mushrooms. I don’t overly love bell peppers and since this recipe is beanless, the chili is mostly comprised of them so I wanted to add more chili-like vegetables.

Overall, this dish is very hearty and perfect for the cool, fall weather.

Soup Saturday: Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Kale Soup

This week, I made a soup that is not really new to me but one that I haven’t made since my first round of Whole 30. It is paleo-friendly, gluten free, and dairy free as well.

The flavours mix together well and it is very filling for a lighter soup.

The recipe can be found at Tastes Lovely. Variations I made to the recipe:

• I used hot Italian turkey sausage instead of sweet Italian pork sausage. This was primarily due to cost. The turkey sausage was on sale and had to be used up right away. However, in the future when making this recipe, I will likely buy hot Italian over sweet Italian because I LOVED how the the sausage made the broth have a little bit of a bite to it. It definitely added extra flavour.
• I used one very large sweet potato instead of 2 large ones. It yielded about 4 cups.

Tasting notes: It tasted really good immediately upon trying it but it tasted even better the next day for lunch. My mom was a big fan of this soup as well.

Low Carb Bagels

Like several people I know, I have hopped on the keto train in attempts to keep myself in check like I did with Whole 30 but be free to eat cheese and yogurt and indulge in the occasional glass of red wine.

I am on Day 5 so far and honestly, it feels very similar to Whole 30. I was tired the first couple of days, had a little brain fog, but those feelings have faded. My eating habits prior to this decision weren’t too bad. I had continued to follow a mainly paleo lifestyle until going to Cuba. I did eat a few more bags of chips than I would have liked but such is life. I have heard really good things about the keto way of life and since it didn’t differ too much from the paleo lifestyle, I figured I’d give it a try.

What’s the Difference? 

Get Healthy U has this great info-graphic to break down the basic differences between the two.

Why Did I Start?

I have had some underlying suspicions that I may have some sort of gluten sensitivity or intolerance. I removed eating gluten as part of the Whole 30 plan and I didn’t want to eat in such a restrictive way again. With Keto, I am free to eat cheese and cream cheese and yogurt and butter and all that dairy that I love but couldn’t have before. There are a lot of great recipes with stevia and other natural low-carb sugars that I can’t wait to try. For more information on what the ketogenic diet is, here’s a link for you: https://www.ruled.me/guide-keto-diet.

Am I Going to Cheat?

Probably in the future. I mean, everything is good in moderation and it might be a little unrealistic to cut out everything bad forever. I understand it is a way of life for many people, but I am still learning how it fits into my lifestyle. By being strict at the beginning, I hope to create good habits and remember all the lessons I learned from Whole 30 and make better choices at restaurants. After a few weeks, will I have a scoop of ice cream? Absolutely. It’s nearly summertime. If I’m at someone’s house and they’re serving non-keto friendly options, I will probably eat some of the non-compliant options anyways. Will I eat an entire loaf of garlic bread? No. Will I have a glass or 3 of sangria? More than likely. It’s all about making smart cheats and not “eating a whole bag of chips” kind of cheat.

Low-Carb Bagels

Now that I have rambled about my lifestyle changes, let’s talk bagels. I am trying to find easy and quick breakfast options since I usually am up and out the door in the morning. I made some flaxseed cinnamon bun muffins last week and they were delicious. This morning, I tried making low-carb bagels.

I used the recipe from WholesomeYum which can be found here: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/low-carb-bagels-with-almond-flour-keto-gluten-free-5-ingredients/ 

It was so easy to make and had only 5 ingredients: almond flour, baking powder, mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, and eggs. I added Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel spice to the top and it was perfect. My mom really liked the bagels too. I’m surprised in how quick and easy it was. Kneading the dough was difficult with it being super sticky but it combined well. (See pre-oven photo above).

The recipe makes 6 bagels and each bagel is 360 calories. Carb counts: Total Carbs: 8g | Net Carbs: 5g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g

An everything bagel at Tim Hortons, in comparison, is 280 calories but has 53g of Carbs.

I would definitely make this recipe again!

 

 

Whole 30 Round 3 is Complete!

Well I did it! I survived a January Whole 30. While I have done this with former coworkers in the past, this time it was all me (with the help of some Facebook groups). I survived and I feel great. #TigerBlood

How I’m Feeling

Well it feels weird to be done, to be honest.  January felt like it lasted a lifetime – it just kind of dragged on and on. Today was my first day without Whole 30 and the only non-compliant thing I’ve had today was a spring roll. Otherwise my breakfast, lunch, and dinner options were all compliant. Slowly reintroducing non-compliant foods into my diet. My energy levels continue to be amazing. No mid-day slump for this gal. My digestion is back in working order. I reluctantly stepped on the scale this morning and I have lost 12.3lbs since starting Whole 30. I was thrilled, don’t get me wrong. But it was just a number at the end of the day. My non-scale victories were larger than my scale victory.

What I Learned From Whole 30 This Time

• I did Whole 30 a year ago or so and I feel like food labels have only gotten worse since then. More additives and preservatives. You’d be surprised to read how many things have corn or soy or sugar, as well.
• Eating out is next to impossible but can be done strategically. If you forget your homemade salad dressing at home, the roasted veggie side (if there is one) is a good option. Check their oils.
• It is okay not to turn to food when you are upset. It has been a hard month for me emotionally and mentally. Not grabbing any form of snack (healthy or unhealthy) was something I really tried to work on this time around.
• I didn’t miss Starbucks as much as I thought I would. I used Coffee Mate in my coffee this morning and poured it out immediately – was wayyyyy too sweet for my tastes. Black coffee with cinnamon is still a winner in my books but maybe next week I’ll start adding milk again.
• Simple is best. I learned to make a few new things and my favourite recipes were the simplest.
• Making your own salad dressings and seasonings (taco seasoning, cajun seasoning, etc.) are extremely easy. Like, I still can’t get over how much I love dump ranch. I’m going to make it all the time.
• It’s okay not to have cake on your birthday.
• Breakfast was the worst meal of the day for me for the entire month – it’s something I will need to continually work on. I can’t eat as many eggs as Pinterest would like me to.
• Posting every single day made me accountable to myself and to the others that have followed my blog and instagram page. At times, I really hated being one of those people taking pictures of their food but then I thought, “No, damn it, I’m doing this for me.”

What Comes Next

Well, I’m not going to abandon ship and start eating crappy foods again. I will definitely carry the lessons I have learned with me and continue to bring awareness to the food I eat.

While I don’t think I will do another round of Whole 30 in February, I have been reading Leanne Vogel’s book on her take of The Keto Diet and may give that a try. While there seem to be some aspects that may be challenging (calculating macros, counting all the things, etc.), it will allow me to have dairy in my life again (I have missed cheese). I may not start right away but I will continue to prep my meals in advanced, make healthier choices, and try not to snack. This tiger blood is amazing and I don’t want to give it up. I also don’t want to live in a world of restriction much either.

Then comes the exercise piece. The next step is bridging the two: food and exercise. In February, that is something I will make more of an effort to do. If not at the gym, I will at home with my 21 Day Fix Extreme workout videos.

I will continue to try to keep myself accountable by posting on here. Watch out for more food freedom stories and my stories of body image and the other hurdles in life.

Thank you to everyone who has followed along on this 30 Day Journey and for your words of encouragement and support.

 

 

 

Whole 30 Day 28

How I’m Feeling 

Today. Was. Rough. I was up on and off all night feeling sick. I’m (hopefully) on the tail end of this stomach bug, so I stayed home to give my body some rest and be functionally closer to a bathroom. However, being home all day left me in a house full of food that I wanted to ate and either couldn’t eat because it made me feel sick or because it’s still Whole 30 and chocolate is still noncompliant. While I had seemingly broken the emotional connections to food in average situations (and even upon some anxiety-provoking ones), I (re-) discovered today that when I am sick, I want to eat like crap and that was an emotional connection I couldn’t break … but somehow did today. I didn’t order Chinese food (despite previous conditioning of me being sick = order Chinese food). I didn’t have some chocolate to feel better. I had chicken soup (without noodles) and really not a lot else.

Day 28, according to the Whole 30 Timeline, is a hard day in general. It’s so close to 30…but not quite. They call it “Day 28: 28 is as good as 30…right?” Ugh, it has felt like that. I have worked this hard to stay committed for 30 days and I am staying true to that commitment.

What I Ate

Blah – what a boring section to write today. Literally all I have eaten today is chicken soup without noodles, some vegetable dish my mom made for dinner, and one clementine.  If my stomach could handle more, I would have done more meal prep for today and the rest of the week. But in the meantime, I have leftover cauliflower rice and chicken and veggies in the fridge for lunch and dinners. Not to mention soup!

TWO. MORE. DAYS. 

Whole 30 Day 27

How I’m Feeling

Well it may be day 27 if whole 30 but it’s also day 3 of the little stomach virus that could. Last night I slept for ten straight hours and haven’t had much of an appetite. Probably out of fear of having to run to the bathroom immediately after, but alas.

What I Ate

Well…not a lot. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast but had to give half of them to my boyfriend since I couldn’t stomach them all.

For lunch, I had a roasted chicken leg and homemade potato wedges (approximately 2).

For dinner I made homemade chicken soup without the noodles. Just drinking the broth has made me feel a bit better. But I also have some kombucha to try and get me through the night.

I’m going to try to go to bed early and get lots of rest to kick this stomach bug’s butt. Fingers crossed!

Whole 30 Day 26

How I’m Feeling

Health wise? Not so great. I have some sort of stomach bug that even Whole 30’s magical digestive powers can’t fix. For the last two days, every time I have tried to eat something, my stomach has felt so sick. Won’t include any gross details here.

What I Ate

Breakfast: lunch meat and fruit. Wasn’t feeling like stomaching much.

Lunch: chicken soup (without noodles)

Dinner: Steak, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, brussel sprouts, and roasted broccoli

Whole 30 Day 24

How I’m Feeling

Six days left and I’m feeling pretty good. I’m worried I’m starting to come down with something as I’ve had an upset stomach the last couple of days and not in the anxious kinda way. My appetite hasn’t been very big but my energy levels continue to be great and my concentration has been much better today. I crossed off three big things on my to do list and am still picking away at more.

What I Ate

Breakfast: egg muffins on the go

Lunch: white chicken chilli leftovers

Dinner: cut up veggies and salt & pepper chicken wings

Whole 30 Day 23

How I’m Feeling

Dare I say it? ONE WEEK LEFT! woohooo! Feeling great but also feeling excited about being done soon. I am so proud of the self control I have had. But I am excited to have a small sliver of birthday cake I have had to miss out on.

What I Ate

Breakfast: Lara bar on the go

Lunch: white chicken chilli

Dinner: pork chop with a baked sweet potato, butternut squash, and broccoli with a side salad and homemade dressing; it was so good I forgot to take a photo so here’s the pic of the salad bowl. The whole 30 approved homemade dressing was soooo good! 😍

Whole 30 Day 22

How I’m Feeling

First, I want to mention how I’m feeling outside of the Whole 30 experience since this is also a blog to share my anxiety experiences. If you read yesterday’s post, you would have seen that maybe yesterday was not exactly a great day. Today, I will say, is much better for the most part. I went to the hospital to visit my friend. Although he was not awake, I enjoyed speaking with his wife and family members there. Praying for his lovely family and friends.

Whole 30 wise, I feel pretty good. My energy levels continue to be high. I managed to stay full from lunch until a late dinner at 8pm tonight. I appear less bloated in the mirror and I am beginning to regret not taking before and after pics for my Whole 30 Journey.

What I Ate

Breakfast: egg muffins! I forgot I froze some. So glad I found them.

Lunch: White chicken chilli. Also forgot I froze some of this as well.

Dinner: roasted bacon brussel sprouts with buffalo chicken tots from one of my new favourite recipe books: The Keto Diet by Leanne Vogel. So easy and so tasty!