Beets and a Paleo Problem

We are in week two of our Paleo Challenge.  I am not doing well.  Although some may think I'm doing extremely well since I lost 6 pounds the first week.  Which, to many, may be exactly what they want.  However, since I am still breastfeeding my eight-month old, it did not do well for me.  It affected my milk supply drastically.  Whereas my baby was waking around 2-3 a.m. to nurse before the challenge, she then started waking every 1.5 hours.  I was exhausted.

It's not that I'm not eating enough food ...or so I think.  I eat avocado at breakfast with eggs and always on any salad.  I eat bacon in the mornings.  I eat more beef than on a typical Paleo diet.  I eat more nuts than is recommended. I eat more protein than normal.  I eat more snacks throughout the day than recommended.  And STILL my body apparently needed more.  I freaked and bought some Nutella to eat. Not because I craved the sugar.  I actually am doing MUCH better this go around than before when the sugar cravings were killing me!  I got that because it was full of fat and at least I'd get a tiny bit of protein (yes, I realize it is made with lots o' sugar and milk) BUT let me tell you that the next two nights I slept so much better because my baby decided that my milk now was sufficient.  

I do not want to eat that much sugar.  So I found several other high calorie/fat snacks to add in.  I feel as though my meals are sufficient since I'm eating more than average with the proteins and fats, so I feel making my in between small meals as fatty and high calorie as possible may help.    Who knows.  It's just not something I'm willing to play around with.  I am eating very healthy...well, much healthier than I was, so at least my milk is better for my baby.  I'm hoping the new way to get fat/calories will work.  If not, I will absolutely eat some more Nutella.  I need sleep and my baby does too.  And if Nutella is a way to do it, then fine.  It's MUCH less sugar/dairy than I ever have consumed in my life, so I'm okay with it for now.  After she weans, I'll definitely go back at it super strict.

Now....onto a new subject.  Beets.  Beets are weird.

 

It's the first time I've ever cooked beets and the first time I've ever tasted them.  I wasn't very impressed.  Well...I wasn't impressed with the taste. I was very impressed with the incredible color that came out of them.  I can see why people use beets as a source to color other things.


 I roasted them and then made a balsamic glaze to pour over.  They smelled very 'earthy' as they were cooking.  When I put them on a plate to try, I admit I was not excited about putting them in my mouth.  I made my husband taste them first!  :)  He didn't think they were bad.  In fact, he ate them again the next day.  Maybe he was just trying not to waste food!  I tasted one and although it was awful, it's just not something I thought was great.  I'll continue to try them. But until someone else makes them, I may just hold off for now.


I tried...but I could not make them look appealing at all.

And so it begins...

I did it.  I gave up sugar.

I want to really keep it out of my system for 30 days so I can truly gauge what I feel like without it.  And at the end of the 30 days, if I do decide to try a little to see how my body reacts, I'm hoping I'll get a clearer picture of how it does affect me.

Here is a photo of what we cleaned out of the pantry (sorry, it's a crappy cell phone photo)

We are only on day 4 of 30.  It's already HARD.  Yesterday I thought I was going to freak out.  I'm not really missing the grains so much (although I think my body is definitely adjusting), but I am craving sugar.  I really didn't like my husband yesterday and I KNOW he didn't like me.  I was reacting very badly to the lack of sugar I am apparently addicted to.

Now, to be fair, I think that the timing of this is quite challenging.  Our 3 month old is apparently going through a growth spurt and has decided that she wants to nurse every couple of hours through the night again.  So combine the sleep deprivation with no sugar and no grains all of sudden AND the reduced caffeine consumption (since there is no sugar in my coffee, I'm drinking less), it's been pretty tough.  Yesterday I could barely keep my eyes open.  I was exhausted.  So I ran up to the newest little coffee shop and got a Queen Bee Latte that's sweetened with, can you guess?  Honey!  Finally something sweet!  It was wonderful...actually it was a little too sweet!  But I completely forgot to ask for it to be half-caff.  Yeah, I was a little overwhelmed a little while later with the caffeine high!

So all in all, it's not been bad.  We've eaten great meals and love cooking at home so it makes it that much better.  I'll list a few of the meals we've eaten:

DAY 1
- Whole chicken in the crockpot with onions (so delicious and gave us plenty of leftovers)
- Red cabbage slaw with cucumber and mango (YUM!)
- BLAT salad - yummy, yummy, yummy, but how can you go wrong when you have bacon and avocado in the same bowl?

DAY 2
- Steak skewers with sweet onions, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms
- grilled pinapple  (oh so good)
- Cauliflower "rice" - not quite mashed cauliflower, but cooked down to be softer than raw

DAY 3
- Spring mix (from our own garden!) salad with leftover chicken for me and leftover steak for hubby, pears, candied (with pure maple syrup) pecans, red onion and avocado.  Dressing was just squeezed lemon and olive oil.  Sooo yummy.  Not sure if maple syrup is "allowed" in Paleo eating, but honey is and I'm assuming if a caveman found some sticky stuff running of out of tree and tasted it, he'd eat it
- leftovers and tons of them!  I was a bit worried when I saw the grocery shopping list for days 1-5 in the "Everyday Paleo" book, but we've had tons of leftovers and will definitely be stretching the meals out in the future.


With our son, we've decided that we'll do Paleo at the house, but outside of the house we'll be lenient.  For example, his school had an end of the year performance and they had a special cookie as a treat.  Fine with us.  We just don't want to keep it at the house anymore.  We were so good for so long allowing that type of stuff to be special treats, but because we knew the stuff was in the house, it was so easy to just give it to him often.    After the 30 days, we will allow ourselves the same type of flexibility.  I'm not saying I'll never eat another cookie, brownie, etc. again, but for the next few weeks I want to avoid them!


As far as exercise, I was doing great following the workout plan in the back of "Everyday Paleo" which I started the week before.  But once I started the no sugar/grain thing and my exhaustion set in, I couldn't imagine trying to even do one squat.  Just walking around the house is wearing me out!  I hope that my body recovers a bit over the next day or so to be able to add the workouts in.  I have been walking some, so I am not completely being a couch potato!

Oh, and I've lost 3.5 pounds this week.  Which sounds great, but my first thought was that it's too much since I'm breastfeeding.  I want to make sure my supply stays up.  But I think I'm ok since I'm actually eating MUCH better than I was for the first three months of my daughter's life!  I've just cut out the pure crap I was eating and I knew it would probably help me drop weight very quickly initially.  I'm just going to make sure I keep plenty of protein and enough good fats in the daily eating to help keep my supply going strong.

So far, so good!

The end is here....

My nursing relationship with my son is quickly coming to an end.

It is so very bitter-sweet.   I am going to miss this look.

He is now 22 months old and my joy. He has grown up so fast and although I was told by a million people that time would fly by, I really didn't believe them. I knew it would pass quickly. I had NO idea that I would literally blink and it would pass.

I knew back in December that my milk supply was getting lower and lower. When my husband and I took vacation without our little guy in January, I was convinced that when we returned that my son wouldn't want to nurse anymore, but he surprised me. He still nursed every morning and most evenings before bed.

When we moved from my mother's house back to our house at the end of March, I never thought that he would want to stop nursing then. I figured that such a big change would prompt him to ask for "nurse" more. So I was surprised when he only asked twice the first week we moved back home. He's nursed a few more times since and actually nursed this morning, but I don't think I have any milk anymore at all.

I cannot believe I breastfed my son for over 22 months. As I posted before, I thought people who nursed longer than a year were nuts. I'd simply never heard or seen it. When I got pregnant, I knew I'd breastfeed...for the first six months. That time came and went so quickly and I was so amazed that I had completely nourished my son, another human being, for half of a year. How huge is that? My body produced what my son needed to sustain and flourish. How miraculous and wonderful is that? Once that six month period passed, it never occurred to me to abruptly stop nursing him simply because I'd reached a time deadline. I was still his food source and doing well at it, if I don't say so myself! Again, like I've mentioned before, it is said that babies need breast milk or formula for the first year of life. Why in the world would I give my baby something processed and manufactured when I was producing the best food in the world for him? My milk was customized for him. Period. No other source of food I can ever give him will be made just for him.

Breastfeeding is such the norm for us in our family now that I'm surprised when others are shocked to learn my son nursed as long as he did. I had a salon appointment today to get my hair cut and colored (yay, I feel like a woman again) with a new stylist and was telling her that my hair was thinner than normal since I'd recently been nursing and had the gobs of hair fall out (which by the way, no one prepared me for!). She asked how old my baby was and when I told her he would be two in June, I thought she was going to fall over. To me, it's now become normal to know many women who nurse even beyond two years, so I think I'm on the earlier side of the weaning! She told me that she nursed her children for six weeks and then switched to formula. So I guess to her, making it to my original goal of six months would have been shocking too!

I know that the weaning means I am raising a confident son who is beginning to make choices already in life. He is assured that his father and I are there for him and love him so much that we can barely pay attention to the world around us because our focus is him! I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to experience this special relationship with my son for as long as I was able.

We have now moved forward to other special bonding times. One of my favorite times with him now is before bedtime, after we've read our many books, when we rock together. He lies in my lap with his head and back on my chest and stomach and wraps both arms up over his head and around my neck to stroke my hair. That has been his thing since he's had control over his hands! He always played with my hair while nursing. I'm so happy that it's continued on and it helps me know that he is content.

I know this isn't a very exciting blog post to many, but it's such a blessing I've been able to experience and although I am very sad that it has reached the end, I know it just means we are on the edge of experiencing ever more wonderful things with our son. I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us!

You're *still* breastfeeding?

"When they are old enough to ask for it, it's time to wean."

Well, with all due respect, babies ask for it the minute they are born. They may not use the same words we do, but they most certainly ask for it. I totally understand that many people are weirded out by extended breastfeeding...wait, that's wrong. Actually I've found that many people are weirded out by women breastfeeding, period. Now, I don't blame these people...I blame our society.

I have to admit, I was one of them. I remember once when working my part-time job for a photography studio years ago...once during a session with a little girl who was almost 2, we had to stop so the mom and little girl could have a nursing session. I was totally weirded out! I mean, I knew women breastfed. That much I got. But I thought you only breastfed the babies until they could sit up or eat solid foods. I had NO clue.

But you know, the first time I'd ever really seen a woman breastfeed their child was when I was 24 years old. 24. Isn't that ridiculous? It was my sister feeding her daughter. I have a feeling if it weren't my sister, I probably wouldn't have seen it happen for another few years.

Somehow I knew I'd always breastfeed. I'm not sure why. My mom didn't breastfeed my sister and I. It was never discussed, not because we thought it was bad, just because it wasn't the norm any longer in our society. When I got pregnant, there was never any discussion between my husband and I whether we would breastfeed or not. It was just how it was going to be.

The question was "for how long." I initially said I would get to six months. After all, that's when they begin on solids, right? Then I researched some more. Once I read that babies are to get breast milk or formula for the first year of life, that settled it. Why in the world would I give my baby formula if I was already breastfeeding and doing very well with producing enough milk for my child. If a baby needs one or the other for the entire first year, I would not substitute the best thing I can give my baby for something commercially made.

Then once a year came, we were not ready to stop nursing...not even close! Our son was never sick the entire first year (except for one bout with a snotty nose that was caused by spring pollen). The first time he got sick, it was with RSV (very strange since it's common in daycares and he stays home). He was 17 months old. Now, RSV can be very dangerous to infants and usually involves breathing treatments and sometimes hospital visits and stays. We went to our pediatrician and he gave us instructions on what to do. Within hours he was better. Now, he still had to get over the virus, but given the fact that he was older than the average age a baby gets RSV and he was still nursing, he had that much more to fight the virus with. We were so thankful that he was still nursing to help keep him healthy enough to fight the nasty virus. Also, our pediatrician is fantastic and we are thankful he did not load our son up on unnecessary antibiotics. (Our son has never had antibiotics.) We were told to use an OTC decongestant for 3 days and use a saline drop as needed. Seriously as soon as we started using that and started clearing his nose, he was better.

Now, the health thing could just been good genes (which I'd like to take credit for!) but we like to think the breast milk has a little something to do with it! Why would we cut off the most nutritious food just because we reached a certain time? Clearly our son still needs the milk because he's still nursing and I'm still producing.

I wish I could explain better why I've totally changed my view on breastfeeding in general, but I really don't have an explanation. I look at my son when he's nursing and it's what we were meant to do. God knew exactly what he was doing. I was given the ability to completely nourish another human being for 6 months (could have been longer, it's just when we introduced solids). No supplements were given at all and he thrived. I think that is one of God's most wonderful gifts. The fact that my body can continue to produce milk in response to my son's nursing is all the proof I need to know that my body was meant to do this and I will continue doing this until my son decides it's time to wean.

I believe that the time is near. My supply is very low and my son only nurses now in the mornings after he wakes and before he goes to sleep at night. Only for a few minutes and he doesn't fall sleeping nursing. The other night, my mother watched him while we were out and she put him down for the night and he didn't wake up until his normal wake time, which further strengthens my theory that the time is near. It's definitely bittersweet. On one hand, it will be nice not to have to wear a nursing tank every night to bed, but on the other, it'll be sad to know my baby is growing up that quickly!

Portion Control...a learned habit

I struggle greatly with portion control. Seriously, the other night I ate two, count them, TWO dark chocolate candy bars. At least they were dark chocolate, right? Oh, and it was New Year's Eve...celebrating right? I deserve it, right? Ugh, although they taste SO good, it's so not worth it immediately after. Wes has a saying that I despise, but love at the same time. "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels." Well, I'm not so sure I necessarily want to be skinny, but the saying still stings when I hear it or say it. Because it's true...although I think I want to change it to "Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels." When I was in shape, eating foods that weren't good for me wasn't satisfying...no matter how good they tasted. Because I was in the zone...I knew that immediately after I would totally regret it.

So, how do I get back to that point? I don't know really. As I mentioned before, I have several tubs of clothes packed away that I cannot fit into and I paid good money for those clothes! As my friend Anne said after having her son, "It's not an issue of vanity, but an issue of economics!" SO true. Since we're adapting our life to a less wasteful, more resourceful way, this is helping to motivate me to get into better shape so I don't have to buy another entire wardrobe at the size I am now. Which, by the way, is no fun. I hate even shopping for a shirt or pair of pants. And the bathing suit top I just had to buy the other day for our upcoming cruise...nauseating. Not just because I'm at the weight I am or the shape I'm in, but because I actually had to spend money on an article of clothing that is 3 sizes bigger than what I used to be. It was on clearance, but still $9.00 is too much money to pay for a swimsuit top when I have about 10-12 in a box packed away.

I've read somewhere that it takes anywhere from 11 days to a month to develop a habit. So that's my goal for the first two weeks of the year. To limit the portions I allow myself when eating meals or snacks. I know I can do it, I've done it before. I actually counted calories once. I tracked it with an online calorie counter so it made it look nice and pretty. I was aiming for 2000 calories a day because of still breastfeeding. It was so hard to do that first week, but guess what? I lost three pounds! THREE...in one week...eating 2000 calories! I was not only eating less calories obviously, but choosing better foods. Who says you have to only eat 1200 calories to lose weight? We need to focus more on WHAT those calories are.

Our society has continuously encouraged larger and larger portion sizes. We all know how fast food restaurants serve. But what about the nicer restaurants? Ever been to a steakhouse? Fine dining or Texas Roadhouse, it doesn't really matter because they often have 12-16 ounce steaks on their menu. What does the average person need with a steak that big? How does their body handle it? And that's probably not the only thing that person eats at that meal, I'm willing to bet. I'm sure there is a baked potato on the side, broccoli if we're lucky and I'm sure there's always the fried onion appetizer before.

My family has done pretty well in sharing meals when we go out. The other day, my husband, son, niece and I all shared one entree and one sushi roll and it was more than enough. We're also going to attempt to adopt the practice of as soon as our food is brought to the table, immediately box up everything over what we should eat in one sitting. Then we've also stretched our dollar that way because we then have at least one, possibly two, meals for the next day's lunch!

So, portion control is going to be my first focus as far as eating healthy goes. Yes, I'm still going to be choosing healthy, natural recipes and increasing our veggie servings, but I think portion control is a key factor is healthier eating. Basically we're going to use our hand as our guide.

Open hand with fingers spread - veggies
Palm of hand - protein
Quarter of palm - good fats


Note - we do not have grains/starches. The Paleo/Zone diet Wes likes to follow doesn't really focus on it. Although on the Zone diet, it does allow for grains, but the Paleo doesn't. Wes really likes the huge focus on the veggies. But, for breakfast we will do oatmeal. Never instant, always old-fashioned or steel-cut oats. We're still deciding on what we think is right for our diet. We are not telling anyone to eliminate anything from their diet, only to do your research and read as much as you can and decide for yourself!



Recipe share:
borrowed from http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/


Paleo Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (trimmed, cut in half and pounded)
almond meal - we used wheat bran (just don't use white flour!)
14 oz can quartered artichokes - drained if in oil
dried parsley
14 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2.25 can sliced black olives
1 yellow onion
8 ounces of mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth (make your own one day!)
2 tsp olive oil
2-3 T fresh Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix about 1/2 C almond meal with 2 T dried parsley.
After pounding chicken breasts, sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with almond meal mixture
Heat olive oil in a skillet
Brown chicken breasts on both sides - about 3 minutes per side
Add to baking dish when finished
After all chicken breasts are browned, add chicken broth to skillet and deglaze pan
Add all other ingredients to pan and bring to a quick low boil, then pour over chicken
Sprinkle top with fresh Italian parsley and bake for about 30 minutes.

I'd give this 2-3 stars out of 5. I probably won't be making this again. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't my favorite either. The chicken will be fine leftover chopped in a salad or wrap though. I'd rather have the Mustard Agave Chicken again!

Introduction to why

This is not your "must read" blog. It's simply a place for me to hold myself accountable and share different recipes, articles, etc. to friends and family who may be interested....or anyone else who may be addicted to blogs like I am!

Why I'm doing this blog:

- I need to get healthy.

I say this only because I don't want to say "I want to lose weight." Which is a goal of mine, but not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to be healthy, which in return, will allow me to lose this extra weight.

- I'm tired of eating junk.

My husband and I have begun reading labels....really reading labels. It's not easy when we've never done it before. But it's getting easier as each time we realize that we've been putting straight JUNK into our bodies with certain foods and realizing we're doing more harm than anything to ourselves.

- I'm tired of wasting money

Our society has this view that eating healthy is expensive. Well...we've been on a strict budget since April 2009 and actually love it (in our own nerd way). We've started comparison shopping and realizing what we pay per ounce, etc. Once we started realizing that the fresh, whole foods eaten in the correct servings and paired with other foods that help give you the energy, fiber, fat, etc., that you need, we see that we were paying waaay too much for food before because we'd need to eat more of the junk to keep our energy up.

- I want to set a good example to our son

Yes, I'm that mom. Our 18 month old son never had refined sugar until he was 1 year old. He has never had juice of any kind (other than that which comes from his fruit that he eats). He drinks water, raw whole milk and breast milk only. Yes, still breastfeeding him! We made his baby food...all of it. I think he may have had 2 jars of commercial baby food total. And that was because we were in a pinch. I want to instill in him good eating habits and allow him to get a taste for fresh, raw veggies and different textures, tastes, etc., before he becomes too opinionated! I'd rather him do this now rather than wait until he's in his 30's and realizing that maybe his diet isn't the best!

Now...we're not perfect. We give him the occasional "bad" or processed food. However, if we do that, I try very hard to be the one to make the cookies, bread, pie, etc. That way, I know everything that's going in. He does eat processed food - some cereals, graham crackers, fruit leather, etc. And occasionally he gets commercial milk (when our r aw milk runs out for the month)

- I want to be in better physical shape

You would think after running around after a child for almost a year that I would be in great shape. Especially since my son does not sit down...ever. Okay, maybe he sits for his meals, but that's only because he's strapped in his chair! Seriously, I have kept this weight on since having him. I actually lost down to my pre-pregnancy size almost immediately...within 2 weeks I'd say. BUT no one told me that things would be this different! I look back at pictures of myself when I was 3 months pregnant and look thinner than I do now!

Sure, it's vanity, but I also feel better and have more energy when I'm in shape. I was in better shape when I was pregnant and miserable.

My husband is a freak. He is lean, muscled, and does ridiculous workouts everyday - some of which include 150 pull-ups...really? He's into Crossfit, which I must say is definitely a great way to workout. It includes competition, which is a motivator for me and definitely for him. In fact, he's already competed in one competition and has signed up for two more. Such fun to watch. So now I'm embarrassed because he is in such great shape and I am most definitely not. I just did my first Crossfit workout yesterday in hopes of starting this healthier lifestyle...more on that later.

- Back to basics

We're learning more and more in our reading and just opening our eyes that much of our society does things the hard way, which wastes time and money and resources and our environment. We are slowly realizing that some of the ways we looked at things in the past don't really make sense. Most of it comes from our society in the past 30-40 years and how fast-paced we've let life become and expect it to be now. Much more on these many topics later.

Well....this is much longer than I intended this intro to be. So I'll stop for now....besides it's almost lunch time for my little guy and two nieces. Not sure what we're having yet. Perhaps some leftover Mustard-Agave chicken with broccoli and onions....

Oh, I'm Dusti. 30+ years old. Husband, Wes, of 3 years. Son is 18 months old and the cutest thing ever. My paying job is a realtor - although I typically just wait for referrals now. My primary focus is on our son. My husband is a firefighter and has the best shifts possible! He works 24 hours on and 48 off. He gets so much time at home and we love it!

Okay, now I'm really done.